Memcached and Grafana Integration

Input and output integration overview

This plugin gathers statistics data from a Memcached server.

This plugin enables Telegraf to stream metrics directly to Grafana dashboards in real-time, leveraging Grafana Live for instantaneous data visualization and operational insights.

Integration details

Memcached

The Telegraf Memcached plugin is designed to gather statistics data from Memcached servers, allowing users to monitor the performance and health of their caching layer. Memcached, a distributed memory caching system, is commonly used for speeding up dynamic web applications by alleviating database load and storing frequently accessed data in memory for quick retrieval. This plugin collects various metrics such as the number of connections, bytes used, and hits/misses, enabling administrators to analyze cache performance, troubleshoot issues, and optimize resource allocation. The configuration supports multiple Memcached server addresses and offers optional TLS settings, ensuring flexibility and secure data transmission across the network. By leveraging this plugin, organizations can gain insights into their caching strategies and improve application responsiveness and efficiency.

Grafana

Telegraf can be used to send real-time data to Grafana using the Websocket output plugin. Metrics collected by Telegraf are instantly pushed to Grafana dashboards, enabling real-time visualization and analysis. This plugin is ideal for use cases where low latency, live data visualization is essential, such as operational monitoring, real-time analytics, and immediate incident response scenarios. It supports authentication headers, customizable data serialization formats (like JSON), and secure communication via TLS, offering flexibility and ease of integration in dynamic, interactive dashboard environments.

Configuration

Memcached

[[inputs.memcached]]
  # An array of address to gather stats about. Specify an ip on hostname
  # with optional port. ie localhost, 10.0.0.1:11211, etc.
  servers = ["localhost:11211"]
  # An array of unix memcached sockets to gather stats about.
  # unix_sockets = ["/var/run/memcached.sock"]

  ## Optional TLS Config
  # enable_tls = false
  # tls_ca = "/etc/telegraf/ca.pem"
  # tls_cert = "/etc/telegraf/cert.pem"
  # tls_key = "/etc/telegraf/key.pem"
  ## If false, skip chain & host verification
  # insecure_skip_verify = true

Grafana

[[outputs.websocket]]
  ## Grafana Live WebSocket endpoint
  url = "ws://localhost:3000/api/live/push/custom_id"

  ## Optional headers for authentication
  # [outputs.websocket.headers]
  #   Authorization = "Bearer YOUR_GRAFANA_API_TOKEN"

  ## Data format to send metrics
  data_format = "influx"

  ## Timeouts (make sure read_timeout is larger than server ping interval or set to zero).
  # connect_timeout = "30s"
  # write_timeout = "30s"
  # read_timeout = "30s"

  ## Optionally turn on using text data frames (binary by default).
  # use_text_frames = false

  ## TLS configuration
  # tls_ca = "/path/to/ca.pem"
  # tls_cert = "/path/to/cert.pem"
  # tls_key = "/path/to/key.pem"
  # insecure_skip_verify = false

Input and output integration examples

Memcached

1. Dynamic Cache Performance Monitoring: Use the Memcached plugin to set up a performance monitoring dashboard that displays real-time statistics about cache hit ratios, connection counts, and memory usage. This setup can help developers and system admins quickly identify performance bottlenecks and optimize caching strategies to improve application speed.

2. Alerting on Cache Performance Metrics: Implement an alerting system that triggers notifications whenever certain thresholds are breached, such as a decrease in cache hit rates or an increase in rejected connections. This proactive approach can help teams respond to potential issues before they affect user experience and maintain optimal application performance.

3. Integrating Cache Metrics with Business Analytics: Combine Memcached metrics with business intelligence tools to analyze the impact of caching on user engagement and transaction volumes. By correlating cache performance with key business metrics, teams can derive insights into how caching strategies contribute to overall business objectives and improve decision-making processes.

Grafana

1. Real-Time Infrastructure Dashboards: Deploy Telegraf to stream server health metrics directly to Grafana dashboards, enabling IT teams to visualize infrastructure performance in real-time. This setup allows immediate detection and response to critical system events.

2. Interactive IoT Monitoring: Integrate IoT device metrics collected by Telegraf and push live data into Grafana, creating dynamic and interactive dashboards for monitoring smart city projects or manufacturing processes. This real-time visibility significantly enhances responsiveness and operational efficiency.

3. Instantaneous Application Performance Analysis: Stream application metrics in real-time from production environments into Grafana dashboards, enabling development teams to rapidly detect and diagnose performance bottlenecks or anomalies during deployments, minimizing downtime and improving reliability.

4. Live Event Analytics: Utilize Telegraf to capture and stream real-time audience or system metrics during major live events directly into Grafana dashboards. Event organizers can dynamically monitor and react to changing conditions or trends, significantly enhancing audience engagement and operational decision-making.

Feedback

Thank you for being part of our community! If you have any general feedback or found any bugs on these pages, we welcome and encourage your input. Please submit your feedback in the InfluxDB community Slack.