Azure Monitoring - Options
| Feature | Azure Monitor | Azure Application Insights | Azure Workbooks | Azure Log Analytics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary Purpose | Comprehensive monitoring solution for all Azure resources and applications | Performance monitoring, diagnostics, and insights for applications | Interactive, customizable data visualization and analysis tool | Log data collection, querying, and analysis service |
| Data Sources | VMs, containers, networks, databases, applications, custom sources | Web apps, APIs, services, cloud applications, custom events | Logs, metrics, custom telemetry from Azure Monitor, Application Insights, and Log Analytics | Logs from VMs, Azure resources, custom telemetry, and services |
| Metrics Collection | Yes, collects and aggregates metrics from Azure resources and custom metrics | Yes, collects application-specific performance and telemetry metrics | No, visualizes data from other sources like Monitor or Log Analytics | No, it provides powerful log querying and analysis |
| Log Collection | Yes, integrates with Log Analytics for log data collection | Limited (can export logs to Log Analytics) | No, visualizes data from logs stored in other services | Yes, collects logs from multiple sources across Azure services |
| Query Language | Kusto Query Language (KQL) | Kusto Query Language (KQL) | KQL (when querying Log Analytics data) | Kusto Query Language (KQL) |
| Alerts and Notifications | Yes, creates alerts based on metrics and logs | Yes, supports alerting on performance and availability issues | No, but can visualize alerts from other services | Yes, supports alert creation based on log data |
| Dashboards | Yes, integrates with Azure Dashboard to provide visual insights | Yes, supports custom dashboards for application performance | Yes, allows creating custom dashboards using data from multiple sources | No, primarily used for log analysis, but integrates with dashboards |
| Application Performance Monitoring (APM) | No (uses Application Insights for APM) | Yes, full support for APM, tracing, and dependency tracking | No, visualizes APM data from Application Insights | No, but can query and analyze performance data from logs |
| End-to-End Transaction Tracing | No (Application Insights handles this) | Yes, supports end-to-end tracing for distributed applications | No | No |
| Custom Queries | Yes, via Log Analytics integration (KQL) | Yes, supports custom telemetry and queries via KQL | Yes, uses KQL for interactive data querying from other sources | Yes, custom log queries using KQL |
| Custom Metrics | Yes, supports collection of custom metrics | Yes, collects custom application telemetry | No (visualizes data, does not collect) | No (uses logs and metrics collected by Azure Monitor) |
| Visualizations | Yes, provides charts, graphs, and time series analytics | Yes, provides application-centric performance charts and reports | Yes, fully customizable and interactive visualizations | Limited (text-based query results, but integrates with Workbooks and Dashboards) |
| Integration with Azure Services | Fully integrates with Azure services (VMs, containers, databases, etc.) | Integrates primarily with application services (App Service, AKS, etc.) | Fully integrates with Monitor, Log Analytics, and App Insights | Fully integrates with Azure services (VMs, App Service, etc.) |
| Built-in Analytics | Yes, provides insights from collected metrics and logs | Yes, includes built-in analytics and performance reports | No (relies on insights from data queried via Log Analytics or App Insights) | Yes, provides powerful querying and analysis for log data |
| Cost | Pay-as-you-go based on data ingestion and retention | Pay-as-you-go based on data ingestion and retention | No cost (built into Azure Monitor; cost depends on data sources like Log Analytics) | Pay-as-you-go based on log ingestion and data retention |
| Best For | Overall monitoring of Azure resources and infrastructure | Application-level performance monitoring, troubleshooting, and diagnostics | Visualizing custom analytics, metrics, and log data for interactive reporting | In-depth querying and analysis of log and telemetry data from multiple sources |
Summary of Each Tool:
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Azure Monitor: A broad monitoring solution that collects, analyzes, and visualizes data from Azure resources, applications, and services. It integrates with Log Analytics and Workbooks for deeper insights.
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Azure Application Insights: Best for application performance monitoring (APM), providing detailed insights into web apps, APIs, and services. It supports telemetry collection, tracing, and dependency tracking.
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Azure Workbooks: Primarily used for visualizing data from Azure Monitor, Application Insights, and Log Analytics. It allows customizable, interactive reports and dashboards.
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Azure Log Analytics: Used for log management and analysis, collecting log data from various Azure resources and allowing advanced querying and troubleshooting using Kusto Query Language (KQL).