Unlocking Insights: Visualizing and Monitoring Oracle Cloud VM Hosted Tools with Grafana
In the dynamic landscape of cloud computing, monitoring and visualizing the health and performance of your hosted tools are paramount. This blog post takes you through the journey of setting up Grafana dashboards to monitor various tools hosted on an Oracle Cloud VM. Specifically, we’ll be diving into three Grafana dashboards:
High-level architecture diagram:
Dashboard 1: Docker Host
1.1 Setting the Stage
Begin by visualizing and monitoring the Oracle Cloud VM itself. Grafana Dashboard 1 focuses on essential metrics such as CPU usage, memory utilization, disk I/O, and network traffic. This provides a bird’s-eye view of the overall health and performance of your hosting environment.
Dashboard 2: Docker Containers
2.1 Tools Overview
In Dashboard 2, we delve into the Docker containers running on the VM, each representing a critical tool in your infrastructure. These include Apache Airflow, Airbyte, PostgresDB, Cassandra DB, Vault, DBT, Kafka, Spark Structural Streaming, Grafana, Metabase, Nginx, Prometheus, Telegram, Minio, and Trino.
2.2 Metrics and Health Checks
For each container, visualize key metrics such as CPU and memory usage, network statistics, and any custom health checks specific to the tool. A comprehensive overview of your entire toolset allows for quick identification of bottlenecks or issues.
Dashboard 3: Prometheus Exporter
3.1 Domain Monitoring
Dashboard 3 focuses on monitoring various domains associated with your tools. From logu.au to specific tool instances like airbyte.logu.au and kafka.logu.au, track metrics related to performance, errors, and system health.
3.2 Leveraging Prometheus Exporter
Integrate Prometheus exporter metrics into Grafana to ensure a unified monitoring experience. Explore Prometheus metrics for Spark, Nginx, Minio, Trino, and more. This dashboard acts as a centralized hub for all your Prometheus-exported metrics.
Implementation and Configuration Tips
4.1 Data Sources
- Integrate Grafana with Prometheus for metric collection.
- Ensure proper configuration of data sources for Docker and Oracle Cloud VM metrics.
4.2 Visualization Best Practices
- Utilize Grafana’s rich visualization options to create intuitive and informative graphs.
- Leverage templating for dynamic dashboard elements, facilitating easy navigation.
4.3 Alerts and Notifications
- Implement Grafana alerts for critical metrics to receive timely notifications.
- Configure notification channels such as email or messaging platforms like Telegram.
Conclusion
By implementing these Grafana dashboards, you’re not only visualizing the current state of your Oracle Cloud VM and hosted tools but also proactively monitoring for potential issues. This approach ensures that you have actionable insights into the performance, health, and status of your critical infrastructure, empowering you to make informed decisions and maintain a robust and efficient system.