1.Essential Linux Storage Commands

The df and du commands form the core of Linux storage analysis. These tools help track disk usage and identify potential space issues.df -h displays mounted filesystem information in human-readable format:Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda1 20G 14G 4.6G 75% /
/dev/sdb1 100G 50G 45G 53% /data
tmpfs 4G 0 4G 0% /run

Key df options:

• -i
  Shows inode usage instead of block usage
• -T
  Displays filesystem types
• --exclude-type=tmpfs
  Filters out specific filesystem types

The du command analyzes directory space usage:du -sh /path/to/directory

Common du combinations:

• du -sh *
  Shows total size of each item in current directory
• du -h --max-depth=1
  Displays directory sizes one level deep
• du --threshold=1G
  Lists only items larger than 1GB

2.Advanced Storage Analysis Tools

Install required tools:# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install ncdu prometheus-node-exporter sysstat iotop

# RHEL/CentOS/Fedora
sudo dnf install ncdu prometheus-node-exporter sysstat iotop

ncdu provides an interactive interface for storage analysis:ncdu /

Navigation keys:

• Arrow keys
  Move through directories
• Enter
  Enter selected directory
• d
  Delete selected item (use with caution)

Finding large files with advanced commands:# Files larger than 1GB, modified in last 30 days
find / -type f -size +1G -mtime -30

# Top 10 largest files in system
find / -type f -exec du -Sh {} + | sort -rh | head -n 10

# Files growing rapidly
find / -type f -size +100M -mtime -1

3.Storage Performance Analysis

Monitor I/O statistics with iostat:iostat -xz 1

Check disk read/write performance:dd if=/dev/zero of=test bs=1G count=1 oflag=direct

Monitor file system operations:sudo iotop -o

4.Clear common space hogs

Package Cache:sudo apt clean or sudo dnf clean all

Journal Logs:sudo journalctl --vacuum-time=7d

Docker:docker system prune -a

Check for deleted but open files:sudo lsof | grep deleted

Analyze disk fragmentation:sudo e4defrag -c /