viztop – Intuitive Visualization of Remote Real-Time Monitoring of Linux Processes

We introduce our tool for intuitive visualization of remote monitoring of processes’ dynamic in a running Linux operating system, in real-time. It provides for overcoming the limitations of text-based process monitoring commands or tools available in current Linux distributions. It can display, via a web browser, the processes existing at any given time, in a running operating system, using a graph of interconnected nodes (processes, threads). Visual cues are used for representing different information, a large amount being available to the user, in a much easier way to understand than in text based tools. As processes are created, terminated, or they change state, the nodes in the process graph are added, removed, or change shape, color, size, line type, etc. The relations between processes are also shown. There is a strong correlation between the visual elements and the features of monitored processes. This tool provides both the big picture with regard to resources’ usage in a computer system and plenty of useful details for improving system administration and performance. It can be also a valuable educational tool for learners, helping them to understand the dynamics of processes in operating systems.