ELK Stack

The ELK stack is an acronym for three open-source observing and visualization stages:

Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana. All components total and record log information. It is outlined for observing and analyzing log information in real-time by companies with expansive volumes of information and apps with complex look necessities.


It starts with arranging

So, how do you proceed with monitoring the application’s extension from the beginning, or if you continue the monitoring project without understanding where to start?

First and foremost, you need to organize. This means deciding which part of the project you want to monitor rather than selecting the monitoring tool. People often prefer to begin with simple tasks, while your focus should be on defining the most critical activities.

For instance, if you commence with infrastructure monitoring while overlooking the application’s backend, it could result in downtime in the app’s backend, causing users to lose connection with the app. Several tips can be helpful in this regard:

Starting with the user’s entry point is a solid approach. From there, we can initiate infrastructure monitoring or run it concurrently. For instance, installing the Zabbix platform could be a viable option.

Next, examining the app’s roots helps identify precisely what isn’t functioning. The key here is to ensure that monitoring runs parallel to the development process. If the monitoring team’s focus shifts to other tasks such as creating CI/CD pipelines or restructuring infrastructure, monitoring might lag behind development.

To establish an effective app performance monitoring system, consider the following:

• Validate the app’s business logic.
• Monitor the health metrics of services.
• Ensure integration monitoring is in place.

By prioritizing these aspects, you can ensure that the app functions optimally for users and remains resilient to potential issues.

This level of monitoring should be integrated into the development workflow. It’s advisable to assign unit-test writing to developers familiar with the codebase. Providing administrators with extensive lists of API protocols for various functions can be overwhelming. For instance, developers could collaborate on writing Grafana plugins, which can be beneficial for administrators.

Whenever there’s an API change, corresponding adjustments should be made to the monitoring setup. Coordinating checks across the entire API protocol, rather than specific endpoints, is recommended to ensure comprehensive monitoring coverage.


Integration monitoring should not be overlooked.

Integration monitoring is essential for assessing the interaction between systems that are integral to the business. For example, if you have ten services that communicate with each other rather than functioning as isolated entities, traditional methods of checking their statuses independently may no longer suffice. Therefore, it’s crucial to synchronize communication between these services. This involves testing how services are interconnected and how they interact with each other.


Foundation monitoring involves three main components:

• Monitoring at the organizational level.
• Monitoring of system software.
• Monitoring at the hardware level.

Often, when we talk about monitoring, we primarily refer to system monitoring. However, it’s best to prioritize application monitoring before delving into system monitoring.