The atime attribute is used by Linux to mark when a file was last accessed, and is understood to be a resource drain when enabled for an entire filesystem.  cPanel attempts to address this by removing atime attributes from a specific list of files.  You may see a command like this in your root crontab:

45 */8 * * * /usr/bin/test -x /usr/local/cpanel/bin/optimizefs && /usr/local/cpanel/bin/optimizefs

This cron basically applies the following command to a number of files and directories:

chattr +A /path/to/file/or/directory

Instead of using cPanel’s band-aid fix, it’s preferred to remove the atime attribute from the filesystem altogether. To do this, add noatime to the file system properties for each usable partition listed in /etc/fstab. For example:

LABEL=/ /  ext3    defaults,usrquota,noatime 0 0
/tmp /var/tmp ext3    defaults,usrquota,bind,noauto,noatime 0 0

Then remount each file system. For the example above using the root partition ( / ):

mount -o remount /

*In some cases, a reboot may be necessary

Now, you can remove the cron job and still get the same benefits of not having your operating system record file access times:

sed ‘/optimizefs/d’ -i /var/spool/cron/root && service crond reload

Additional Resources:

http://www.faqs.org/docs/securing/chap6sec73.html

Related posts:

1. Fixing Quotas on a cPanel Server
2. Managing Multiple Hard Drives with cPanel
3. 11 Ways to Free Up Disk Space on a cPanel Server

Monitoring Software

With a software option, you’d basically be setting up a server to act as a monitor, or installing software on your PC. Here are some free and open-source software solutions that we’ve used:

Nagios

Nagios is considered one of the best free server/network monitoring tools in the industry. It’s highly customizable and hundreds of plugins are available for it, not to mention that you can easily write your own plugins as well. The only downfall is that the setup can be tricky, and for most setups you need to install the nagios client (NRPE) on the monitored server.

Munin

Munin is a plug and play monitoring software mostly for network performance analysis. On a cPanel server, you can install this easily via WHM > Plugins.

Monitorix

Monitorix is a free, lightweight monitoring application similar to Nagios and Munin

PHP ServerMon

Monitors multiple services across multiple servers, allowing each to have its own custom notification settings.

Server Monitor

PHP-based monitoring software allowing monitoring for multiple ports on a server, and provides details uptime reports

Here is a nice list of a few more: http://sixrevisions.com/tools/10-free-server-network-monitoring-tools-that-kick-ass/

Hosted Solutions

A hosted monitoring solution is a service offered and maintained by another provider, so you don’t have any software to install or configure. You’d generally sign up with the provider and use their control panel to manage your monitored sites. Here are the ones we’ve tested and recommend:

mon.itor.us

Mon.itor.us is a relatively new monitoring service that promises FREE monitoring forever, for external and internal hosts. When you sign up, you get free access to reports and uptime statistics, as well as widgets you can add to your site. At the time this article was written, this service is still in beta but is rapidly improving and is considered very reliable.

247WebMonitoring

This is a 100% free monitoring service that provides a wide range of flexible features for up to 5 sites at intervals of 15, 30, and 60 minutes. Features include content monitoring, pie charts, email/SMS notifications, maintenance mode, and an easy to use control panel. Site also includes a demo showing the service’s easy of use.

SiteUptime

The free plan provides monitoring for one site at 30 or 60-minute intervals for HTTP, POP3, SMTP, and FTP, from multiple locations. Low-cost upgrade options are also available: http://www.siteuptime.com/compare.php

Pingdom

The free plan includes monitoring for one site and up to 20 SMS alerts, with free unlimited email alerts.

Uptime Spy

A more advanced monitoring service that will monitor an unlimited number of resources from several geographic locations at 1,5,15,30, and 60-minute intervals. Features include advanced reporting and statistics, and unlimited notifications.

Related posts:

1. Adding Services to Chksrvd for Monitoring
2. 11 Ways to Free Up Disk Space on a cPanel Server
3. Adding New Feature Groups for a cPanel Theme