In the fast-paced realm of DevOps and Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), success starts with effective monitoring. Understanding the fundamental metrics is crucial for identifying and mitigating issues proactively. In this article, we’ll delve into the leading metrics frameworks — R.E.D., U.S.E., and the “Four Golden Signals” — which will provide you with a solid foundation to enhance your monitoring practices.

Generative AI and large language models (LLM) are fundamentally changing the way we interact with data, especially in the realm of Kubernetes and observability. These technologies are reshaping our field, and there is a lot to understand and unpack so organizations like yours can make sense of it all. What data is important, and what isn’t? How can LLMs make my day-to-day easier, and what do I need to do to ensure I don’t get overwhelmed?

AI has been the biggest macro-trend in technology for some time now, and the observability space is no exception to this rule. Just look at the findings of the 2024 Observability Pulse Report; it’s evident that organizations are hungry for AI capabilities that help address pervasive issues of observability process maturity, the talent shortage, ever-increasing MTTR, and the skyrocketing cost of observability.

Troubleshooting within Kubernetes environments can be a daunting task. If we could only have a magical artificial intelligence advisor that could gather all the data about what goes on the system, and tell me what’s wrong, and even how to solve it. Wouldn’t it be nice? K8sGPT is a young open source project that uses generative AI to give Kubernetes superpowers to everyone. It recently turned a year old, and is now part of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF).

In technology, having “modern” capabilities is standard. Staying ahead of the curve is critical, and keeping outdated technology or processes going can be a recipe for disaster in a complex, ever-changing landscape. Ensuring the smooth functioning and performance of software systems is paramount. This is where modern observability—a sophisticated approach to monitoring and understanding the inner workings of applications and infrastructure—is required.

Observability isn’t new. But organizations are struggling to adopt mature observability practices, and the impact on business is palpable. Organizations are seeing the value of observability for their applications and infrastructure—the results of our 2024 Observability Pulse survey of 500 global IT professionals reflects that across the board.

Not that long ago, in a galaxy that isn’t remotely far away, a disturbance in the open source world was felt with wide-ranging reverberations. Imagine waking up one morning to find out that your beloved open source tool, which lies at the heart of your system, is being relicensed. What does it mean? Can you still use it as before? Could the new license be infectious and require you to open source your own business logic? This doom’s day nightmare scenario isn’t hypothetical.