ISPworld: The Web Server First Aid Kit: Handy tools for when all hell breaks loose

"The key here is that, unlike quantum mechanics or carburetors, everything that goes wrong on a Unix system happens for a clearly defined reason. While that reason may sometimes be freakish or undocumented, it's almost always one of a few fairly common issues."

With that in mind, let's take a look at the handy tools and the usual suspects - the top commands and tools to use, and common places to look that will at least shed a clue on most server problems. I'm going to use FreeBSD as the example system - but most other BSDs and Linux can use the same tools, even if they act slightly differently or are located in a different place in the file system." ... [E]verything that goes wrong on a Unix system happens for a clearly defined reason. While that reason may sometimes be freakish or undocumented, it's almost always one of a few fairly common issues. ... With that in mind, let's take a look at the handy tools and the usual suspects - the top commands and tools to use, and common places to look that will at least shed a clue on most server problems.