Resources
4 min read
Monitoring tools are critical for DevOps, enabling them to quickly find and rectify performance issues. With the increasing popularity of Docker, it has become crucial that organizations can effectively monitor these containers.
But, as monitoring Docker containers is particularly complex, developing a strategy and an appropriate monitoring system is not simple. However, this process can be streamlined by utilizing a Docker monitoring tool.
Within this article, we will outline what container monitoring means as well as providing a list of the best docker monitoring tools, including free and paid solutions, that are currently available.
Contents
What is a Container?
A container is a lightweight, standalone, executable software package that includes everything needed to run an application, such as the code, runtime, system tools, system libraries, and settings. Containers are isolated from each other and the underlying host system, enabling applications to operate consistently across different environments.
They are regularly used in software development and deployment to guarantee that applications can be easily packaged, deployed, and scaled across multiple platforms, from development to production environments.
What is Container Monitoring?
Container monitoring is the process of observing and examining the performance, health, and behavior of containers within a containerized environment. It entails gathering numerous metrics and logs from individual containers, As well as from the underlying infrastructure, such as the container orchestrator, networking, and storage layers. These metrics can include container uptime, disk I/O, and network traffic.
Container monitoring tools commonly integrate with container orchestration platforms such as Kubernetes, and Docker Swarm, offering visibility into the entire containerized environment and allowing for the efficient management and troubleshooting of distributed applications.
Harness
The first Docker monitoring tool on our list is Harness. Harness supplies a software delivery platform that offers DevOps Modernization, specifically in the case of Docker monitoring, Continuous Delivery & GitOps. You can utilize the container step to run any Docker container in your Kubernetes cluster as part of your continuous deployment (CD) stage. Harness will orchestrate the container in your cluster as part of your Harness deployment. With this solution, you can track the health of a deployment by validating metrics and logs from one or multiple sources, and utilize notifications to bring in human intervention.
Site24x7
With Site 24x7 you can utilize the Docker monitoring tool to attain in-depth insights into your Docker containers and hosts. To begin gaining container-level performance metrics you need to install the Linux agent on your host and Site24x7 will automatically take care of monitoring all your Docker containers. Also, the agent will automatically discover and monitor new containers when they are created. After this, you will be able to attain critical metrics such as CPU usage,, bytes received and transmitted, network in/out, and cache memory.
Logit.io
Logit.io offers a unified platform utilizing the widely-used open-source logging solutions ELK and Grafana. The platform supplies comprehensive observability across both containers and infrastructure, empowering your engineering team to quickly investigate, highlight trends, and diagnose issues with greater efficiency.
With this solution you can begin correlating performance metrics, container logs, and network data all in one place to attain an extensive view of your complete microservices architecture. As well as this, Logit.io offers built-in containerisation integrations. Which provides complete support for Docker via Linux, Windows, Mac, and serverless applications for efficient Docker container monitoring.
Prometheus
Prometheus is an open-source solution designed to deliver monitoring and alerting capabilities tailored for cloud-native environments and you can configure Docker as a Prometheus target. Simply, configure Prometheus to operate as a container on your local machine, and track your Docker instance using Prometheus. A benefit of Prometheus is that it allows for the collection and retention of metrics in the form of time-series data. This entails storing data alongside corresponding timestamps, along with the option to include additional key-value pairs known as labels. Also, Prometheus works alongside Grafana, allowing you to effectively visualize numerous metrics relating to your Docker containers.
CloudBees
Container monitoring is the process of continuously collecting metrics and monitoring the health of containerized applications. With CloudBees Codeship you can utilize CI/CD software as a service solution that assists engineering teams in implementing and optimizing CI and CD in the cloud. As well as support small and growing teams to develop everything from simple web applications to modern microservice architectures.
The CloudBees solution enables integration with any tool, cloud, or service, and with rapid deployment, you can be fully operational in minutes. This means that CloudBees Codeship is an effective Docker monitoring tool.
Sumo Logic
Sumo Logic offers a dedicated Docker app for effective Docker monitoring. With this solution, you can monitor your entire Docker environment in real-time based on specific criteria such as container events and configuration information and utilize advanced analytics to locate and troubleshoot issues in your Docker infrastructure. As well as this, Sumo Logic utilizes a native collection source, removing the need to sync between logging systems, and also provides a continuous monitoring solution for successful Docker deployment.
Tanzu
Tanzu, now part of Broadcom, offers an end-to-end integrated application platform solution that allows your organization to construct and deploy software, quickly and securely. This docker monitoring tool is particularly useful if your organization is currently deploying cloud-native Docker applications on Kubernetes infrastructure, as the platform includes platform-as-a-service for Kubernetes.
This can help to free developers from conducting everyday operations and providing them with more time to concentrate on the code instead of infrastructure. Also, you can automate app deployment with a built-in secure and customizable software supply chain.
cAdvisor
cAdvisor is an open-source metrics collector, developed by Google, that examines resource usage and performance characteristics of running containers. The tool is a running daemon that gathers, aggregates, processes, and exports information about running containers and comes with native support for Docker.
This Docker monitoring tool maintains resource isolation settings, past resource consumption records, comprehensive histograms of historical resource usage, and network statistics for every container.
D2iQ
D2iQ’s Docker monitoring tool is a similar example to that of Tanzu’s, in that it offers a Kubernetes management platform. Therefore, this solution proves particularly advantageous if your company is already implementing cloud-native Docker applications within Kubernetes infrastructure.
The platform utilizes automation services that intend to reduce complexity and establish consistency and standardization. As well as this, the tool possesses’ integrated FluxCD that enables Github workflows and provides multi-cluster platform lifecycle management.
Sematext
Sematext offers a container monitoring solution that runs as DaemonSet on Docker Swarm service as well as a simple ‘docker run..’ command to provide effective Docker monitoring. The solution automatically finds and tracks containers to continuously monitor your dynamic environment.
Docker container logs are parsed and structured out of the box. Utilize the UI to begin including or excluding containers from shipping logs. You have complete control of your container logs which intends to help reduce troubleshooting time by half.
If you've enjoyed this article why not read our list of The Top Container Monitoring Tools or The Top Kubernetes Management Tools for 2024 next?