System Performance Monitor

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What Does System Performance Monitor Mean?

A system performance monitor (SPM) is a type of application that identifies, collects, monitors and reports on the overall operational health of a computer system. It is a performance monitoring tool that enables end users, administrators and organizations to gauge and evaluate the performance of a given system.

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Techopedia Explains System Performance Monitor

A system performance monitor primarily collects and reports key performance indicators and metrics into the operational state of a system. Most operating systems have a native SPM application/component that displays factual and graphical stats for system performance. Some of the performance metrics/data collected by an SPM include the use of the CPU, memory, hard disk and network. It also includes the ability to provide suggestions and guidelines toward improving performance and tuning/optimizing the system automatically. SPM is a key tool in any system administrator’s job because it provides system-wide insight and aids in decision-making.

For example, a system might have an over-utilized CPU/memory and based on past trends provided by the SPM, a system administrator can schedule a system upgrade accordingly.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology expert

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.