Monitoring your infrastructure is a crucial task to ensure you don't run into problems. Enterprises use a range of monitoring tools to collect monitoring data across systems. With data coming in from multiple sources each second, it's easy to get lost in the conundrum.
In this post, we discuss the crucial characteristics of monitoring data to give you an idea of what to look for. They apply to all the metrics and events data you collect.
Data Should be Discernable
You should be able to get down to the bottom of the data you collect. In the case of outages, you can't spare even a single minute to make sense of your data. As a result, you should fully understand the data you collect.
The trick is to focus on simple metrics and events that help you unearth the core issues. Additionally, using dashboards can assist you in understanding what's going on with your systems.
Moreover, integrating monitoring data from different sources makes way for better analysis and insights.
Work to understand your data before outages occur.
Collected At the Right Frequency
Timing the frequency of your data collection is another vital aspect. You don't want your metrics to become mere averages, collected over a long time to lose their meaning. However, you also don't want to collect data too often and overburden your task.
You have to discover the sweet spot that lets you collect meaningful data for effective monitoring. The frequency will vary for each business based on the nature of the systems and apps used. You can also test frequencies to zero in on the right one.
Your monitoring data should look as granular as possible.
Not Limited by Scope
Every single host you use drives a number of other systems, apps, or workloads. You need to decide what and how to monitor based on the objectives of your business. It's important to collect monitoring data associated with the scopes of each host that is meaningful to you.
For example, you may want to know how your production in south Germany is doing.
Your data should be able to uncover issues for such meaningful scopes. It will also help you to assess the aggregate health of the scopes and take action in case of outages.
Retained for Long Enough
How long should you retain your raw data?
Like the frequency of collecting data, you have to decide how long you want to store your raw data. If you delete data too early, you might miss out on meaningful insights. If you time it right, you have the upper hand at uncovering potential trends and patterns.
For most businesses, retaining data for at least a year will make sense. Also, ensure your monitoring system doesn't aggregate the data to make it lose meaning.
Final Thoughts
Work with adept partners like NeuSwyft to know what you need to collect. We can also help you monitor your infrastructure to build resiliency. Stay proactive with us to reduce outages and resolve them without causing any major interruptions. Contact us today to learn more.
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