Types of Metrics Explained
Understand the fundamental metric types: gauges, counters, histograms, and summaries. Learn when and how to apply each type for effective monitoring.
What are Metric Types?
Welcome to "Types of Metrics Explained"! In observability, metrics are crucial for understanding your system's health and performance.
But not all numbers are the same! Categorizing metrics helps us collect, store, and analyze them effectively.
We'll explore the four fundamental types: Gauges, Counters, Histograms, and Summaries.
Gauges: Snapshot of Now
A Gauge represents a single numerical value that can go up and down over time. Think of it like a car's speedometer or a thermometer.
Gauges are perfect for capturing the current state of a system at a specific moment.
- Use for: Current CPU usage, memory consumption, queue size, temperature.
- Nature: Point-in-time value.