Overview
Prometheus is the de facto standard for Kubernetes monitoring and has become essential infrastructure for cloud-native observability.
Key Features
Multi-dimensional Data Model
Prometheus stores metrics with labels, enabling powerful querying across dimensions like service, instance, and environment.
PromQL
The Prometheus Query Language provides flexible, powerful queries for analysis and alerting:
# 95th percentile request latency
histogram_quantile(0.95, rate(http_request_duration_seconds_bucket[5m]))
Pull-Based Architecture
Prometheus scrapes metrics from targets, simplifying service discovery and reducing coupling.
Built-in Alerting
Alertmanager handles alert routing, grouping, and notification delivery.
Best For
- Kubernetes environments
- Microservices architectures
- Teams familiar with PromQL
- Cost-conscious organizations
Limitations
- Long-term storage requires additional solutions (Thanos, Cortex)
- High cardinality can impact performance
- Pull model may not suit all architectures
Our Take
Prometheus is an excellent choice for most infrastructure monitoring needs. Its ecosystem, community support, and integration with Grafana make it a solid foundation for observability.