NodeJS large directory file changes - node.js

Question

I am working on more of a security dashboard, it watches for changes in files in the entire home directory with hundreds of sites (all Joomla, so a lot of files).
In order to keep on top of potential security issues we want to watch for file changes in an efficient way without creating unnecessary CPU/Memory overhead. We want to watch it at a faster interval but I know its more of a balancing act when you do want to keep it from using more cpu then a side process should.
I have tried to use "watch" with the following code, running in the home directory:
var watch, fs;
watch = require('watch');
fs = require('fs');
watch.createMonitor(__dirname,{interval:500,filter:function(file,stat){
if(file.indexOf('index.php')!=-1){
return true;
}else{
return false;
}
}},function(monitor){
monitor.filter(function(file){
console.log(file);
})
monitor.on('created',function(file,stat){
console.log(file + ' new');
});
monitor.on('changed',function(file,stat){
console.log(file + ' changed');
});
monitor.on('removed',function(file,stat){
console.log(file + ' deleted');
});
});
However this spikes the CPU to over 100% of a single core (sometimes 2) out of 8. Memory also takes up about 20% of 8gb pretty quickly as well. This is all just to create the watch event on all the files, so its before it can actually detect any file changes.
I know the issue with this is it goes through each file individually, and only does not track it if you filter that sort of file. Typically all I need to watch is the index.php in every directory, down to a point that it could be consistent (with some exceptions).
Is there a module already built to do this? Or is this something new? All modules I find assume its a smaller directory (like watching LESS or something) So not built for this sort of application at all.
Any ideas? I know this code will need to be scrapped as there is no way I can see to stop the CPU overhead.

Answer 1

Do not use package 'watch', just use fs.watch(...)
package 'watch':
consistent APIs
very slow because implement mostly in node, look source to see how it work
souce code: https://github.com/mikeal/watch/blob/master/main.js
fs.watch(..)
non-consistent APIs, not all OSs are supported.
very fast because it reused OS features
document: http://nodejs.org/docs/latest/api/fs.html#fs_fs_watch_filename_options_listener