Prometheus Kubernetes: Get an In-depth Look

Tabel of the content

• What is Kubernetes Prometheus?
• Why use Kubernetes for Prometheus?
• How does Prometheus Works?
• Pros and Cons of Prometheus Kubernetes
• Best Practices for Kubernetes Prometheus
• Installation of Prometheus
• Conclusion

The Prometheus Kubernetes, a pull-based system, is an open-source software and tracking tool known for tracking events and alerting. Prometheus enables designing real-time tracking of metrics in high-dimensional data for constructing an HTTP pull model using comparable queries. The software also helps in checking and keeping a track of cloud-native security through the detection of unusual activity, preventing an attack. 

What is Kubernetes Prometheus? 

Let's now discuss the definition of the software before understanding it.

Prometheus 

This is an open-source framework that absorbs enormous amounts of data every second that helps with monitoring and alerting. The toolkit was built by SoundCloud. Prometheus monitors a single device as well as a single process known together as a target. Each target has units known as metrics. The software framework collects and stores metrics as time series data. Target gathers data over HTTP and keeps it in a time-series database which helps in handling the alerts. 

Kubernetes 

It is open-source software that deploys, manages, and scales containers. Most modern apps are built using containers which are packaged with their configurations and dependencies. Kubernetes is used for the deployment and management of the containers. With the growing number of apps, it spans multiple containers present across multiple servers.

Why use Kubernetes for Prometheus?

Prometheus Kubernetes enables a system to run even in case of an outage allowing the detection of issues rapidly. It consists of a collection of time series. Each of the time series is identified by a different set of label-value pairs and a collection of timestamped values. Here are some of the reasons to use Prometheus for monitoring Kubernetes:

• DevOps Culture – DevOps is an integral part of apps, and hence, Prometheus makes it easier to debug operations. It helps in advanced DevOps and monitoring, makes it more accessible and creates space to include additional stack tiers. 
• Building a multi-dimensional data model– The use of Prometheus Kubernetes helps in building a data model based on key-value pairs. This uses Prometheus as query language making the time series data flexible and accurate. 
• Better handling of high components – The open-source software framework, or API, helps in handling a range of components like metric collecting, alerting, graphical visualization etc. 
• Container monitoring – It helps in handling many fundamental things including monitoring virtual network addresses, exposed metrics as well as unstable software components. 
• File formats and protocol accessibility – Prometheus makes the file format easily accessible. HTTP transport is used for publishing metrics making it easily readable. 
• Discovery of services – Setting up service discovery makes it easy for all the apps to provide data to Prometheus. Prometheus then discovers targets to scrape. The Kubernetes clusters are loaded with labels, annotations, and an advanced system allowing tracking of the status. Kubernetes API is used by Prometheus for discovering targets. 
• Monitoring data access – As the system completes data collection, PromQL query can be used for data access. PromQL language is even used to export data to graphical interfaces, sending or handling any alerts. Usually, an alert handling component like Alertmanager is used for sending alerts to the receivers. 

How does Prometheus Works?

The Prometheus In Kubernetes makes use of a pull-based system that sends across HTTP requests. These requests sent by the open-source software are known as a scrape created by the config instructions as per the deployment file. The response to the scrape is stored in a repository further used to measure the metrics. The repository consists of an enormous amount of data which is fed to the server and is a custom database. At one time, thousands of machines and events are monitored with help of one Prometheus server. 

Prometheus use two approaches to access data which is done either directly from the client libraries located in apps or with the help of exporters. This makes it crucial to learn the function of the exporter which is software located along the apps.

Here are some ways the exporters help with access to the data:

• Prometheus sends HTTP requests that are accepted by the exporters. 
• Exporters give access to data which is compatible. 
• The requested data is sent to the Prometheus server. 

Pros and Cons of Prometheus Kubernetes

Planning to use Prometheus for monitoring Kubernetes? Here are some pros and cons that one needs to know:

Pros 

• Seamless operation – Prometheus works seamlessly with Kubernetes as both are native cloud computing frameworks. It is easier to work on projects when Prometheus is bundled together with Kubernetes. 
• Extensive range of libraries – One of the benefits of using Prometheus is that it has a wide range of libraries as well as exporters. This makes it convenient and easy to collect a range of app metrics. 
• APIs for better access to metrics – Prometheus has easy APIs which allow easy access to tracking metrics. 
• Simplify data collection – As Prometheus works on the pull-based model, it helps with the collection of time-series data serves and helps with data collection. 

Cons

• Issues with encryption and authentication – One of the drawbacks is that Prometheus data collection lacks encryption and authentication. This means users with access to the network can observe telemetry data. 
• Pure-telemetry monitoring – Prometheus lacks clarity and hence does not provide full context about events. 

DevOps Certification

Training Course

100% Placement Guarantee

View course

 

Best Practices for Kubernetes Prometheus 

Here are some of the best practices which help with the easy and convenient use of Prometheus in Kubernetes: 

Consoles and Dashboards 

Prometheus Kubernetes helps in designing consoles and dashboards that help in tracking events, analysing alerts, and real-time metrics. This allows the user to arrange relevant information instead of displaying all data within a single operational console. Each of the possible failure modes can be packed and presented in a visually appealing manner.

Inner Loops Protection 

On including metrics in code for more than 100,000 times a second, it is critical to limit the operations one performs in the inner loop. Some ways to protect the inner loops are as follows:

• Limit metrics number within the loop
• Limit metrics number in the code 
• Measuring the impact of changes using benchmarks
• Time measurement or durability should not be measured using metrics

Prevent the use of labels

Labels often refine data for the metrics, and hence, each label requires resources like CPU, bandwidth, RAM and an enormous amount of disk space. Creating labels on a large scale leads to the consumption of a large number of resources. Limiting labels on metrics helps in reducing costs. On assigning a large number of labels to metrics, always use efficient analysis tools that make the process structured and seamless. 

Careful use of timestamps

On tracking an event's timing, always make sure to use timestamps that indicate and show the time when the event has occurred. The accuracy of the timestamps helps with real-time analysis and tracking of metrics. This notably eliminates the need to update logic and reduce errors. 

Pushgateway use 

Prometheus Pushgateway helps with the monitoring of components. It enables pushing time series data from short-lived, service-level batch jobs to intermediate jobs which can be scrapped. The service-level batch jobs offer an outcome that is ideally captured by Pushgateway. However, a single Pushgateway is not suitable for tracking multiple instances as it might cause failure. 

Installation of Prometheus 

The open software can be installed with a set of YAML files which consists of organization, authorization, and services that allows approaching the resources and dragging information through element scraping. The YAML files make it easy to track, revise, and recycle metrics or data. 

Customization of Kubernetes Prometheus is also possible, which in turn, improves the efficiency of the performance. Kubernetes help resolve management problems via apps available via liveness and readiness probes. Prometheus together, with client API, assists in customizing the metrics and monitoring app performance. Hence, customizing the metrics of Prometheus can be done by deploying in Kubernetes. 

Conclusion 

DevOps Online Training in Prometheus for Kubernetes will help in excelling applicable knowledge of the open-form software. In summary, Prometheus Kubernetes helps with monitoring and tracking the alerts. It helps in tracking and analysing the behaviour of a system. Prometheus uses the pull model for the retrieval of metrics over HTTP. Setting up and learning Prometheus Kubernetes helps in collecting service metrics and offers real-time tracking. 

CTA: StarAgile Consulting offers advanced and professional DevOps Training courses on Prometheus Kubernetes for upgrading the career graph. Here, you can learn the best open-source software. You can also browse across the available courses and signup for a certification.