What is Grafana?

Grafana is an open-source web application for visualizing data. Its primary use is as a data monitoring and alerting tool. It allows us to create charts, graphs, and data tables that we want to visualize. It uses a query-based system to build custom visuals from our dataset. It also allows alerts to be set, which trigger when a particular condition is achieved. Furthermore, it monitors our data in real time and allows for monitoring.

The following image shows the architecture that Grafana uses.

This is a simplistic view of how Grafana connects to its data source and can create data visualizations.

• In this, the data producers can be anything but not limited to web applications, Jenkins CI servers, Kubernetes pods, etc.

• The data source most commonly used to probe for data metrics is Prometheus; however, others provide the same capabilities. The data producer either pushes its data to the data source or the data source queries from the data producer. This is dependent on the kind of data producer used and its configuration.

• Finally, these data metrics are fed to Grafana, which uses its dashboard tool to help us visualize data according to our needs. This is done by querying the data source for the required metrics. Once Grafana receives those metrics, it uses them to visualize the request.

The queried data can be either metrics or logs. Metrics measure performance while logs show a detailed report for every event. An example of a metric could be CPU temperature and an instance of a log could be the actual temperate value. This difference is essential to remember when creating dashboards and manipulating data.

Grafana dashboards allow an interactive experience with data collected. This data can be from one or many sources. The created dashboards can be built from scratch to maximize customization or imported from Grafana's dashboard store for an easy and professional experience.

These dashboards allow users to understand the status of the data source at a glance. This allows action to be taken as fast as possible. Moreover, these dashboards can be customized to suit a suitable view for each department based on its needs. This means that multiple variants of dashboards can be made of a single dashboard, and various dashboards can be made with different data sources.

While the Grafana dashboard may seem simple in its application, it allows us to perform complex operations. Its key features consist of:

• Monitoring: Grafana allows users to monitor different aspects of their data producers. Depending on the data producer and user's demands, these can range from CPU usage to lookup time.

• Alerts: Building on monitoring, Grafana allows users to set up alerting tools. This enables users to receive notifications via email, popups, or third-party tools whenever a specific condition is fulfilled.

• Panels: Panels filled with metric and log data are combined to form a dashboard view. These panels are fully editable and allow customizations ranging from changing names to changing data representation types.

• Actions: Conditional logic can be applied to these panels, which allows a dynamic experience. An example is when the value of a metric report is in a specific range, the output on the panel changes its color to red to indicate an error.

• Plugins: Grafana also allows its dashboard to access third-party APIs, which enhances the user experience while creating more accessibility for more users.

Grafana is a top-rated data visualization tool that allows organizations of all sizes to monitor their products. This is especially popular in the DevOps field as data producers need to be kept in check. Finally, understanding why something works is a starting point. Explore using Grafana with a data producer and a source to learn more.