In this article, Gerardo Dada outlines why true observability is vital in today’s hybrid infrastructures. He examines tools and practices enabling DevOps teams to monitor complex environments.

Summary

Author: Gerardo Dada

With hybrid infrastructure and internet-based dependencies now standard parts of IT landscapes, achieving effective observability requires going beyond simply monitoring on-premises resources. Gerardo Dada discusses how a ‘true’ observability approach means not just tracking what occurs within data centers or internal networks, but also understanding performance and issues across all interconnected systems, including third-party services, cloud environments, and the broader internet.

Key Points

  • Shift to Hybrid Infrastructure: Most organizations today use a mix of on-premises and cloud resources, making conventional monitoring insufficient.
  • Internet Dependencies: The growing reliance on SaaS, cloud platforms, and external APIs means that performance bottlenecks or failures might occur outside organizational firewalls, requiring visibility across network boundaries.
  • Observability Tools: Dada highlights the importance of leveraging modern observability solutions:
    • Internet Performance Monitoring (IPM): Tracks the performance and reliability of internet connections and dependencies.
    • Real User Monitoring (RUM): Captures actual user experiences from browsers or apps.
    • Synthetic Monitoring: Uses automated scripts to simulate user interactions and proactively detect issues.
  • DevSecOps Integration: Advanced observability is crucial not just for reliability, but also for security and compliance across distributed infrastructures.
  • Vendor Ecosystem: The article references leading observability vendors and platforms such as Cisco, Chronosphere, Observe, Google, Splunk, ServiceNow, Logz.io, and CodeSee, reflecting the diverse tool landscape available to modern DevOps teams.

Practical Implications

  • Proactive Issue Detection: With extended observability coverage, teams can spot and address issues that might be invisible to traditional monitoring, especially those occurring in transit across the internet.
  • Unified Monitoring: A holistic approach helps break down silos, allowing IT and DevOps teams to uncover root causes and optimize end-to-end performance.
  • Security and Compliance: Integrated observability supports DevSecOps goals by detecting anomalies and supporting incident response and regulatory requirements.

Conclusion

Modern DevOps demands observability beyond organizational boundaries. Embracing tools and practices that monitor all aspects of hybrid and internet-dependent systems helps teams achieve greater reliability, performance, and security.

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