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Monitor AKS with Azure Managed Services for Prometheus & Grafana

Introduction

Monitoring is essential for effectively managing Kubernetes clusters and ensuring the smooth operation of applications within them. By implementing robust monitoring, organizations can:

  • Ensure Performance: Track key metrics such as CPU, memory, and storage to prevent bottlenecks, optimize workloads, and allocate resources efficiently.
  • Enhance Reliability: Detect issues like node failures, pod crashes, or application errors early to minimize downtime and ensure a seamless user experience.
  • Enable Troubleshooting: Leverage real-time logs and metrics to diagnose and resolve issues swiftly.

Azure Monitor simplifies Kubernetes monitoring with a comprehensive suite of tools for Kubernetes environments:

  • Managed Prometheus: A fully managed service for collecting metrics, enabling developers to focus on insights rather than infrastructure.
  • Container Insights: Provides detailed telemetry data, including performance metrics and logs, offering visibility into workloads on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).
  • Managed Grafana: Offers customizable and visually appealing dashboards, empowering teams to make data-driven decisions.

Architecture Diagram

The following diagram shows the high level architecture of monitor AKS with azure managed services for Prometheus & Grafana

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Before enabling monitoring in AKS, understanding the key open-source tools, Prometheus and Grafana, is crucial as they form the backbone of many Kubernetes monitoring solutions.

Prometheus

Prometheus is a widely adopted open-source monitoring and alerting system, well-suited for cloud-native environments like Kubernetes. Initially developed by SoundCloud, it is now part of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF).

Key Features:

  • Time-Series Database: Stores metrics data as time-series for easy trend analysis.
  • Pull-Based Data Collection: Scrapes metrics from endpoints, reducing reliance on external pushes.
  • Kubernetes Integration: Natively integrates with Kubernetes, automatically discovering services and pods.
  • PromQL: A powerful query language for analyzing collected metrics.
  • Alerting: Built-in rules trigger notifications based on specific conditions.

Grafana

Grafana is a leading open-source visualization and analytics platform that integrates seamlessly with a wide range of data sources, including Prometheus.

Key Features:

  • Customizable Dashboards: Create personalized dashboards with various visualization options.
  • Multiple Data Sources: Supports integration with Prometheus, Elasticsearch, Azure Monitor, and more.
  • Alerting: Provides robust alerting mechanisms that integrate with tools like Slack, PagerDuty, or email.

Azure Managed Services for Monitoring

Azure enhances Kubernetes monitoring by providing managed services that extend popular open-source tools like Prometheus and Grafana.

Azure Managed Prometheus

Azure offers Prometheus as a fully managed service through Azure Monitor, removing the need for manual infrastructure management.

Key Features:

  • Fully Managed: No setup, scaling, or maintenance required.
  • Native AKS Integration: Simplifies metrics collection with automatic Kubernetes object discovery.
  • Preconfigured Features: Includes built-in alerts, rules, and dashboards.
  • Centralized Metrics Storage: Stores Prometheus metrics in an Azure Monitor workspace.
  • Seamless Integration: Works with Azure services, including AKS and Azure Managed Grafana.
  • Comprehensive Analysis: Query metrics using PromQL or visualize them in Metrics Explorer and Grafana.

For more detailed information about Prometheus and its capabilities, refer to the official Azure documentation.

Azure Monitor Workspace

Azure Monitor workspaces store metric data collected by Azure Monitor, focusing primarily on Prometheus metrics.

Difference Between Azure Monitor Workspace and Log Analytics Workspace:

Feature Azure Monitor Workspace Log Analytics Workspace
Data Type Prometheus metrics Logs, traces, and some metrics data
Use Case Metrics-based monitoring Centralized log and trace analysis
Query Language PromQL KQL (Kusto Query Language)
Visualization Tools Metrics Explorer, Managed Grafana Log Analytics, Workbooks, and third-party tools

Note: Azure Monitor workspaces currently focus on Prometheus metrics but aim to unify storage for all Azure Monitor-collected metrics.

To explore more about Azure Monitor workspace capabilities, visit the official documentation.

Azure Managed Grafana Workspace

Azure Managed Grafana Workspace offers a fully managed Grafana service, allowing teams to visualize and analyze monitoring data without managing infrastructure.

Key Features:

  • Fully Managed Service: Handles setup, updates, scaling, and maintenance.
  • Integrated with AKS: Connects seamlessly to AKS and Azure Managed Prometheus.
  • Pre-Built Dashboards: Provides curated dashboards for common use cases.
  • Azure AD Integration: Secure access with role-based permissions via Azure Active Directory (Azure AD).
  • Custom Visualization: Supports a wide range of visualization plugins and custom dashboards.

To explore more about Azure managed workspace capabilities, visit the official documentation.

Workspaces and Features

Different Azure services require specific workspaces for monitoring data storage and management.

Feature Workspace Description
Managed Prometheus Azure Monitor Workspace Stores Prometheus metrics from AKS and other Azure services.
Container Insights Log Analytics Workspace Stores logs and performance data from AKS containers.
Managed Grafana Azure Managed Grafana Workspace Hosts the managed Grafana service for data visualization.

Explanation of Workspaces

  • Azure Monitor Workspace: Focuses on real-time metrics storage, particularly Prometheus metrics.
  • Log Analytics Workspace: A centralized repository for log data, used for deep insights and dashboards.
  • Azure Managed Grafana Workspace: Dedicated to visualizing data with Grafana’s customizable dashboards.