# Linux server performance: Is disk I/O slowing your application?

DevFeed: [Linux server performance: Is disk I/O slowing your application?](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/linux-server-performance-is-disk-i-o-slowing-your-application-20872.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://linuxblog.io/linux-server-performance-disk-io-slowing-application/>)

Author: Hayden James

Published: 2026-09-12T16:11:54Z

Content type: tutorial

Language: en

Sources: [Hayden James](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/hayden-james.md>)

Topics: [Linux](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/linux.md>), [IO](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/io.md>), [Server](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/server.md>), [Command-line interface](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/cli.md>), [Processes](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/processes.md>), [NVMe](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/nvme.md>)

Tags: [blog](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/blog.md>), [command-line](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/command-line.md>), [cpu](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cpu.md>), [linux](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/linux.md>), [load](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/load.md>), [mysql](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/mysql.md>), [nvme](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/nvme.md>), [performance](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/performance.md>), [processes](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/processes.md>), [request](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/request.md>), [server](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/server.md>), [ssd](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ssd.md>), [storage](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/storage.md>), [sysadmins](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/sysadmins.md>), [terminal](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/terminal.md>)

## AI overview

This tutorial explains how disk I/O bottlenecks can cause high Linux load averages even when CPU usage is low. It shows how to use top, atop, and iotop on a LEMP web server, including per-core I/O wait measurements, to identify storage-related application slowdowns.

## Source excerpt

If your Linux server is bogged down by disk I/O, your first step may often be to use the top command in the terminal to check load averages. Continue reading...