Observability Glossary

Metrics

Metrics are essential for understanding how a system is performing. For example, in a web application, you might use metrics to track the average response time for different API endpoints. This can help you identify slow or underperforming parts of your application and optimize them for better user experience.

Projects such as Prometheus can be used to collect and store metrics from your application. You could measure the memory utilization of your Node.js server and create alerts based on certain thresholds to ensure it's always running optimally.

However, metrics are "just" aggregated numbers; they don't capture the full story of your application. Modern applications use distributed tracing solutions such as OpenTelemetry to get deeper insights into their application performance.

Explore related concepts

Monitoring

Monitoring is the act of tracking the performance and behavior of a system, application, or service in real-time, allowing for the detection of issues, anomalies, and performance bottlenecks. It involves collecting and analyzing metrics to ensure that everything is running smoothly and to identify potential areas for improvement.

Error Rate

The error rate is the frequency at which errors occur in an application. It is a critical metric for understanding the overall health and performance of an app, as it directly impacts user experience.

Logging

Logging is the process of recording events, actions, or messages that occur within an application, typically for troubleshooting or analysis purposes.