How to troubleshoot a complaint of a slow application in Linux

nbkq88x · 07-27-2009, 03:52 PM

A general question, when user complains about an application running too slow, what steps are usually taken to troubleshoot and resolve the issue? Thank you very mucy.

XavierP · 07-27-2009, 05:48 PM

First steps are to find out why the user thinks it's slow, observe it's speed and compare it with someone who isn't complaining. Try running it from a command line and seeing if it kicks out any errors. Is this a real general question or do you need it for something specific?

sundialsvcs · 07-27-2009, 10:26 PM

Probably the most important tool that you have is observation and note-taking. If possible, observe the problem first-hand for yourself. Then, ask the user for any observations, such as, "what exactly were you doing or trying to do when you noticed this?" "Has this happened before?" "Does this happen often?" "Is it 'a whole lot' slower, or just 'a little?' "

Usually, what happens is that "something stands out." And that is basically what you must be looking for. There is no "bright line rule" for how to handle a complaint of "slowness."

nbkq88x · 07-28-2009, 09:05 AM

Thank you guys for your response. I have worked with Unix/Linux for some years and know that a slow application could be caused by a lot of reasons. I'm just want to brainstorming some "politically correct" answers for a job interview questions. Thank you for your input.