# External disks start working with no apparent reason. How could I know why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Storage and Disk Issues\ **Created:** [17 January 2024 15:59 UTC](https://syncloud.discourse.group/t/external-disks-start-working-with-no-apparent-reason-how-could-i-know-why/398 "2024-01-17T15:59:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SimoneBuralli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SimoneBuralli](https://syncloud.discourse.group/u/SimoneBuralli)\ **Post date:** [17 January 2024 15:59 UTC](https://syncloud.discourse.group/t/external-disks-start-working-with-no-apparent-reason-how-could-i-know-why/398/1 "2024-01-17T15:59:19Z")
Hello everybody, I have Nextcloud and Plex only installed on my Syncloud. The external disks (2 rotating disks in RAID 1) start buzzing with no apparent reason because nobody is using the system (better to say: none of those 2 apps 😄 ) , indicating an activity. It happens with no apparent repetition (day time, duration, etc.). What would you suggest to monitor the disk activity on a daily basis? What I fear: ransomware encripting files or, much less terrifying, an useless disk usage with an impact on their life length. Thanks in advance, have a good day. Simone ---
**Author:** ![boris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/74df32/32.png) [@boris](https://syncloud.discourse.group/u/boris)\ **Post date:** [18 January 2024 13:43 UTC](https://syncloud.discourse.group/t/external-disks-start-working-with-no-apparent-reason-how-could-i-know-why/398/2 "2024-01-18T13:43:20Z")
Hi, > What would you suggest to monitor the disk activity on a daily basis? First of all you can run `top` command line process monitor to give a quick check using SSH if you are familiar with linux tools. We have an open app request still (not available yet): > > > Just an idea for a simple app to monitor some system stats like uptime, CPU, mem…ory, disk usage, ... > > Maybe even with system control options like shutdown, reboot, change CPU governor on the fly, ... which mentions: [Linux Dash : Simple, beautiful server monitoring web dashboard](https://afaqurk.github.io/linux-dash/#/system-status)