prometheus.io Reviews

Prometheus is an open-source monitoring and alerting system. It was originally developed at SoundCloud and has since become a standalone open-source project with a large and active community. The project is maintained independently of any single company, and it joined the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) in 2016.

Key Features:

1. Multi-Dimensional Data Model: Prometheus uses a highly dimensional data model, where time series data is identified by metric name and key-value pairs.
2. PromQL: It has a flexible query language called PromQL, which allows for powerful slicing and dicing of collected time series data.
3. No Reliance on Distributed Storage: Prometheus does not rely on distributed storage, and single server nodes are autonomous.
4. Pull Model for Time Series Collection: Time series data is collected via a pull model over HTTP, and pushing time series is supported via an intermediary gateway.
5. Service Discovery: Targets are discovered via service discovery or static configuration.
6. Graphing and Dashboarding: Prometheus supports multiple modes of graphing and dashboarding, including integration with Grafana.
7. Alerting: It has a precise alerting system based on PromQL, and an Alertmanager handles notifications and silencing.
8. Client Libraries: There are client libraries available for easy instrumentation of services in over ten languages.
9. Integrations: Prometheus has a wide range of existing exporters that allow bridging of third-party data into the system.
10. Open Source and Community-Driven: The project is 100% open source and is maintained by a vibrant community. All components are available under the Apache 2 license on GitHub.

Prometheus is designed to be reliable and is suitable for both machine-centric monitoring and monitoring of highly dynamic service-oriented architectures. It is particularly well-suited for microservices environments due to its support for multi-dimensional data collection and querying.

It's important to note that while Prometheus is a powerful monitoring tool, it may not be the best choice for use cases that require 100% accuracy, such as per-request billing. In such cases, it's recommended to use other systems for detailed and complete data collection.

Overall, Prometheus is a widely used and respected monitoring and alerting system in the DevOps and cloud-native communities. Its open-source nature, active community, and powerful features make it a popular choice for organizations looking to implement robust monitoring solutions."

the reasons behind this review :
Open-source project, Active developer and user community, Standalone project, Joined the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) in 2016, Multi-dimensional data model, Flexible query language (PromQL), No reliance on distributed storage, Pull model for time series collection, Support for service discovery, Graphing and dashboarding capabilities, Precise alerting system, Client libraries for easy instrumentation, Wide range of integrations and exporters, 100% open source, Available under the Apache 2 license, Suitable for machine-centric and service-oriented architectures, Designed for reliability, Standalone server nodes, Not dependent on network storage, Not suitable for use cases requiring 100% accuracy