Grafana is one of the most popular data visualization tools used in IT system monitoring, performance analysis, and infrastructure management. Its strength lies in flexibility and a wide range of supported data sources and extensions that allow users to tailor the platform to their specific needs. In this article, we will look at the most important data sources and extensions available for Grafana.

Data source – The key to flexible visualization

Grafana supports many different data sources, enabling integration with popular databases, monitoring tools, and analytics systems. The most commonly used databases include MySQL and PostgreSQL, which allow direct queries and analysis of logs or metrics. Other popular supported data sources include InfluxDB, MongoDB, as well as Elasticsearch and OpenSearch.

Source: Grafana Labs

When it comes to monitoring systems and the cloud, Grafana supports Zabbix, as well as cloud services such as Azure Monitor, AWS CloudWatch, and Google Cloud Monitoring. Support for multiple sources allows for data visualization from both public cloud and on-premises environments within a single dashboard.

Grafana also excels in the context of IoT. It supports the MQTT protocol, which is a standard in IoT device communication, as well as Graphite, a historical solution for metric monitoring. OpenTelemetry, a modern approach to collecting, processing, and exporting metrics, logs, and detailed application data, is also gaining popularity.

At Hawatel, we have experience in creating custom data sources that can be used directly in Grafana. If needed, contact us.

Grafana extensions – how to expand system functionalities with them?

Grafana has a rich ecosystem of plugins that allow adding new capabilities. Among visualization panels, noteworthy ones include Plotly, offering interactive charts, Boom Table, a table with advanced customization, and Status Panel, which makes it easier to visualize service statuses.

In the area of alerting and automation, Grafana offers tools such as Grafana OnCall, which simplifies notification and on-call team management, and Contact Points, allowing notifications to be sent to systems like Slack, Discord, or Telegram.

Extensions also allow integration with external systems. Jira Data Source enables analyzing Jira data directly in Grafana, while ServiceNow allows connecting ITSM data with metrics. GitHub Insights, on the other hand, provides analysis of code repositories hosted on GitHub.

At Hawatel, we have experience in creating custom plugins that can be used directly in Grafana. If needed, contact us.

Source: Grafana Labs

How to choose the right data sources and extensions?

The selection of appropriate data sources and extensions should be tailored to the specific use case. Key aspects include compatibility with the current IT ecosystem, performance and scalability, and advanced features. It is worth ensuring that the chosen solutions work with the existing infrastructure and checking whether the system can handle the anticipated data volume. Additional extensions can help personalize visualizations and alerts, improving monitoring and data analysis.

Security and optimization in Grafana

Working with data requires special attention to its security. Therefore, it is worth keeping in mind a few actions that will secure the data we work with.

• Access control – Grafana allows defining user roles and managing access permissions to dashboards and data sources. This enables administrators to restrict access to critical data.
• Query optimization – Poorly optimized database queries can cause excessive system load. It is worth monitoring response times and applying appropriate indexing in databases.
• Regular updates – New versions of Grafana often include security patches and performance optimizations, so it is recommended to update the platform regularly.

Source: Grafana Labs

Summary

Grafana is a powerful tool that, thanks to its extensive base of supported data sources and extensions, can be adapted to almost any monitoring and analysis scenario. The right selection of data sources and plugins allows achieving optimal results and better control over IT infrastructure.