By: Pete McKenna, Blue Medora
The Blue Medora VMware vRealize Operations Management Pack for PostgreSQL provides rich, detailed metrics about your PostgreSQL database environment within a few clicks. Database visibility is one of the most common reasons customers look to Blue Medora for monitoring solutions, so we’ll explore this information, as well as take a look at the features that make this Management Pack such a valuable monitoring tool.
Metrics and Resource Kinds
Using a JDBC connection, the PostgreSQL Extension connects directly to your database to retrieve data. The data the Extension collects includes metrics, relationships, and events for each of the resource kinds provided.
These PostgreSQL resource kinds include:
- Adapter Instance
- Instance
- Database
- Table
- Function
- Query
The integrated relationship mapping makes it easy to view and drill down to related PostgreSQL and VM resources, effectively bridging the gap between each, giving you an insightful and powerful look into the Management Pack’s unique relationship to the virtualization layer.
PostgreSQL Dashboards
The PostgreSQL Management Pack includes several out-of-the-box dashboards designed to give you a quick look at the status of your environment, and makes it easy to identify and view key performance indicators (KPIs) as soon as the Extension is configured and collecting data.
The 5 instantly available dashboards include:
PostgreSQL Overview – Provides an overall health display of the PostgreSQL database environment using easy to read heat maps to simplify identifying problematic resource kinds.
PostgreSQL on OS – Allows user to view key performance metrics (KPIs) for the selected PostgreSQL database and related operating system.
PostgreSQL on VM – Allows user to view key performance indicators for the selected PostgreSQL database and related virtual machine or machines.
PostgreSQL IOPS – Allows user to view IO stats for the selected PostgreSQL database, virtual machine, and datastore.
PostgreSQL Top-N Queries – Allows user to view a ranking of the Top 10 slowest queries for the selected PostgreSQL database. The dashboard view also enables the user to select individual queries and view the metrics for the selected query on a heat map, as can be seen in the screenshot below.
Alerts
PostgreSQL database health indicators are pulled by the vROps Management Pack for PostgreSQL and displayed in vRealize Operations as alerts. Based on various symptoms that it detects in the environment, alerts are generated and the critical levels of each alert are closely mapped from PostgreSQL to vROps.
Reports
Several preconfigured reports are included with the PostgreSQL Management Pack, providing instant value to the user. These reports can be exported and shared with key stakeholders throughout the user’s organization.
The Instance Overview and Throughput reports are two incredibly useful reports for a user. The PostgreSQL Instance Overview provides an overview of the instance performance metrics, and the Throughput report provides a list of throughput metrics.
If you are interested in taking a firsthand look into how the Management Pack for PostgreSQL can help provide a deep insight into your PostgreSQL database environment, you can visit the product page where you will find overview videos and presentations. Additionally, you can request a free trial to start monitoring your PostgreSQL environment today!
