Project: Netdata (Observability and Analysis / Observability)
File: deployment-with-centralization-points.md

An observability centralization point can centralize both metrics and logs. The sending systems are called Children, while the receiving systems are called a Parents. When metrics and logs are centralized, the Children are never queried for metrics and logs. The Netdata Parents have all the data needed to satisfy queries. Metrics are centralized by Netdata, with a feature we call Streaming. The Parents listen for incoming connections and permit access only to Children that connect to it with the right API key. Children are configured to push their metrics to the Parents and they initiate the connections to do so. Logs are centralized with methodologies provided by `systemd-journald`. This involves installing `systemd-journal-remote` on both the Parent and the Children, and configuring the keys required for this communication. | Feature | How it works | |::|:-:| | Unified infrastructure dashboards for metrics | Yes, at Netdata Cloud | | Unified infrastructure dashboards for logs | All logs are accessible via the same dashboard at Netdata Cloud, although they are unified per Netdata Parent | | Centrally configured alerts | Yes, at Netdata Parents | | Centrally dispatched alert notifications | Yes, at Netdata Cloud | | Data are exclusively on-prem | Yes, Netdata Cloud queries Netdata Agents to satisfy dashboard queries. | A configuration with 2 observability centralization points, looks like this: ```mermaid flowchart LR WEB[["One unified dashboard for all nodes"]] NC(["<b>Netdata Cloud</b> decides which agents need to be queried"]) SA1["Netdata at AWS A1"] SA2["Netdata at AWS A2"] SAN["Netdata at AWS AN"] PA["<b>Netdata Parent A</b> at AWS having all metrics & logs for all Ax nodes"] SB1["Netdata On-Prem B1"] SB2["Netdata On-Prem B2"] SBN["Netdata On-Prem BN"] PB["<b>Netdata Parent B</b> On-Prem having all metrics & logs for all Bx nodes"] WEB -->|query| NC -->|query| PA & PB PA |stream| SA1 & SA2 & SAN PB |stream| SB1 & SB2 & SBN ``` Netdata Cloud queries the Netdata Parents to provide aggregated dashboard views. For alerts, the dispatch of notifications looks like in the following chart: ```mermaid flowchart LR NC(["<b>Netdata Cloud</b> applies silencing & user settings"]) SA1["Netdata at AWS A1"] SA2["Netdata at AWS A2"] SAN["Netdata at AWS AN"] PA["<b>Netdata Parent A</b> at AWS having all metrics & logs for all Ax nodes"] SB1["Netdata On-Prem B1"] SB2["Netdata On-Prem B2"] SBN["Netdata On-Prem BN"] PB["<b>Netdata Parent B</b> On-Prem having all metrics & logs for all Bx nodes"] EMAIL{{"<b>e-mail</b> notifications"}} MOBILEAPP{{"<b>Netdata Mobile App</b> notifications"}} SLACK{{"<b>Slack</b> notifications"}} OTHER{{"Other notifications"}} PA & PB -->|alert transitions| NC -->|notification| EMAIL & MOBILEAPP & SLACK & OTHER SA1 & SA2 & SAN |stream| PA SB1 & SB2 & SBN |stream| PB ``` For Metrics: Install Netdata agents on all systems and the Netdata Parents. Configure `stream.conf` at the Netdata Parents to enable streaming access with an API key. Configure `stream.conf` at the Netdata Children to enable streaming to the configured Netdata Parents. For Logs: Install `systemd-journal-remote` on all systems and the Netdata Parents. Configure `systemd-journal-remote` at the Netdata Parents to enable logs reception. Configure `systemd-journal-upload` at the Netdata Children to enable transmission of their logs to the Netdata Parents. Optionally: Disable ML, health checks and dashboard access at Netdata Children to save resources and avoid duplicate notifications. When using Netdata Cloud: Optionally: disable dashboard access on all Netdata agents (including Netdata Parents). Optionally: disable alert notifications on all Netdata agents (including Netdata Parents).