Is there a way to have a dynamic system status area in the Linux terminal that updates while one does something else?

Solution 1:

Use tmux to split your terminal into panes (alternative: GNU screen). Then run whatever you want wherever you want.

The below screenshot was taken, while iotop, htop, watch df -h and watch sensors were constantly running. There is also one shell (could be more if I wanted) waiting for commands.

Working with tmux is my daily routine; no matter if in tty, terminal emulator under X11, connecting with ssh from another Linux or with PuTTY from Windows.

When connecting via SSH, I prefer running tmux on a server, so I can detach (disconnect) at any time and attach later to my tasks still running (compare this question and my answer there).

If you cannot install tmux on your server(s), run it locally and connect to the server (or different servers) from each pane separately. In this case some of your remote tasks will die if you disconnect, as if you didn't use tmux (no wonder, from the server's point of view you don't use tmux), still your local console will be able to show separate panes with local or remote programs running.