Database integrations on Grafana Labs

Database integrations

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:47:35 -0500

Database integrations

What you learned in Database Observability

Deep query-level monitoring for MySQL and PostgreSQL
How Grafana Alloy collects query performance, explain plans, and wait events
When Database Observability is the right choice for your database

What you’ll do in this module:

What integrations provide — Metric collection, pre-built dashboards, and alerting
MongoDB — Operations, connections, replication, and memory monitoring
Redis — Commands, memory, keyspace, and persistence monitoring
Memcached — Hit rate, evictions, memory, and connection monitoring
Cassandra — Reads, writes, compaction, and JVM monitoring
MySQL and PostgreSQL — Basic metric monitoring as a fallback when Database Observability isn’t an option
Oracle Database — Sessions, processes, tablespaces, and wait-event monitoring

Choose one database to set up hands-on, or explore multiple.

Estimated time

10–15 minutes (concept slides) + 15–20 minutes (hands-on learning path)

What database integrations provide

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Metrics, dashboards, and alerts for your database

Database integrations use Grafana Alloy to collect infrastructure-level metrics from your database and send them to Grafana Cloud. Each integration ships with pre-built dashboards and alerts so you can start monitoring immediately.

Database Observability	Integrations
Query-level performance (which queries are slow)	Infrastructure-level metrics (connections, memory, replication)
MySQL and PostgreSQL only	MongoDB, Redis, Memcached, Cassandra, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle Database
Explain plans, wait events, query samples	Pre-built dashboards and alerting rules
Deep visibility into fewer databases	Broad coverage across many databases

How integrations work

Every database integration follows the same pattern:

Install Grafana Alloy on a host that can reach your database
Configure the exporter — Alloy includes a built-in exporter for each database technology
Install dashboards and alerts — One click from the Connections page in Grafana Cloud

Alloy scrapes metrics from the database exporter and forwards them to Grafana Cloud via Prometheus remote write. Some integrations also collect logs via Loki.

What’s included

Integration	Alerts	Dashboards	Logs
MongoDB	10	3	—
Redis	6	1	—
Memcached	4	1	—
Apache Cassandra	8	3	✓
MySQL	15	2	✓
PostgreSQL	19	4	✓
Oracle Database	3	1	✓

When to use integrations

Your database isn’t supported by Database Observability (MongoDB, Redis, Memcached, Cassandra, Oracle)
You need infrastructure-level metrics and alerts without query-level detail
You want a quick setup with pre-built dashboards — most integrations take 15–20 minutes

MongoDB integration

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MongoDB integration

MongoDB is a document-based, distributed database built for modern applications. The MongoDB integration gives you visibility into operational health, replication, and resource usage.


What it monitors	Operations, connections, replication status, memory usage, document metrics
How it works	Grafana Alloy’s built-in MongoDB exporter scrapes metrics from your MongoDB instance
What you get	10 alerts + 3 dashboards (Cluster, Instance, ReplicaSet)
Prerequisites	MongoDB user with monitoring privileges

What you’ll see in the dashboards

MongoDB Cluster — Cluster-wide node counts (up/down), operation counters, and resource usage
MongoDB Instance — Per-instance connection statistics, operation counters (insert, query, update, delete), and performance metrics
MongoDB ReplicaSet — Replication lag, member states, and oplog window

Trade-offs

Strengths	Considerations
Purpose-built dashboards for MongoDB operations	Infrastructure metrics only — no query-level analysis
Replica set monitoring and alerting	Requires a dedicated monitoring user
Minimal configuration with Alloy’s built-in exporter	Does not cover sharded cluster-specific metrics

Learning path

Monitor MongoDB with Grafana Cloud

Welcome to the MongoDB monitoring learning path that shows you how to use Grafana Alloy to send MongoDB metrics to Grafana Cloud for comprehensive database observability.

18 min

Beginner

Docs & blog posts

Open in Grafana Cloud

Complete this learning path directly in your Grafana Cloud stack with an interactive learning experience.

Open in Grafana Cloud

View on website

Path completed

Redis integration

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:47:35 -0500

Redis integration

Redis is an in-memory data structure store used as a key-value database, cache, and message broker. The Redis integration monitors memory usage, command throughput, and cluster health.


What it monitors	Commands, memory usage, keyspace statistics, connected clients, replication, cluster state
How it works	Grafana Alloy’s built-in Redis exporter scrapes metrics from your Redis instance
What you get	6 alerts + 1 dashboard
Prerequisites	Redis user with monitoring permissions (authentication setup)

What you’ll see in the dashboard

Command throughput — Commands processed per second and command duration
Memory usage — Used memory, RSS, fragmentation ratio, and max memory threshold
Client connections — Connected and blocked clients
Keyspace — Keys, expiring keys, and eviction rate
Replication — Connected replicas and replication lag

Key alerts

Alert	Severity
RedisDown	Critical
RedisOutOfMemory	Warning
RedisTooManyConnections	Warning
RedisClusterStateNotOk	Critical

Trade-offs

Strengths	Considerations
Covers both standalone and cluster modes	Single dashboard (focused on key metrics)
Memory and eviction alerting out of the box	No Slowlog or command-level analysis
Quick setup — one exporter config block	Requires network access from Alloy to Redis

Documentation

View the full documentation. Learning path coming soon!

Redis integration

Memcached integration

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:47:35 -0500

Memcached integration

Memcached is a distributed, in-memory key-value store used to speed up dynamic database-driven websites by caching data in memory. The Memcached integration monitors cache performance, memory usage, and connection health.


What it monitors	Cache hit/miss rate, evictions, memory usage, connections, items stored
How it works	Grafana Alloy’s built-in Memcached exporter scrapes metrics from your instance
What you get	4 alerts + 1 dashboard (Memcached Overview)
Prerequisites	Grafana Alloy installed on a host with network access to the Memcached instance

What you’ll see in the dashboard

Cache performance — Hit rate, miss rate, and eviction trends
Memory utilization — Current bytes stored vs. available memory
Connection tracking — Current connections, connection rate, and max connection threshold
Item statistics — Items stored, items evicted, and storage throughput
Resource usage — CPU time (user and system) and network bytes (read/written)

Key alerts

Alert	Severity
MemcachedDown	Critical
MemcachedConnectionLimitApproaching	Warning / Critical
MemcachedOutOfMemoryErrors	Warning

Trade-offs

Strengths	Considerations
Focused on the metrics that matter most for caching	Single dashboard with essential metrics
Eviction and OOM alerting out of the box	No slab-level analysis in the default dashboard
Simplest setup of all database integrations	Memcached must be network-accessible from Alloy

Documentation

View the full documentation. Learning path coming soon!

Memcached integration

Apache Cassandra integration

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:47:35 -0500

Apache Cassandra integration

Apache Cassandra is an open source NoSQL distributed database designed for high availability and horizontal scalability. The Cassandra integration monitors cluster health, read/write latencies, compaction, and JVM performance.


What it monitors	Read/write latencies, compaction tasks, JVM garbage collection, cluster node status, keyspace metrics
How it works	JMX Exporter exposes Cassandra metrics; Grafana Alloy scrapes them and forwards to Grafana Cloud
What you get	8 alerts + 3 dashboards (Overview, Nodes, Keyspaces) + log collection
Prerequisites	JMX Exporter deployed on each Cassandra node

What you’ll see in the dashboards

Overview — Cluster-wide node count (up/down), read/write latency trends, pending compaction tasks, and CPU/memory usage
Nodes — Per-node performance: latencies, connection message queues, garbage collection, and resource consumption
Keyspaces — Per-keyspace read/write latency, pending compactions, repair job tracking, and disk space usage

Key alerts

Alert	Severity
HighReadLatency / HighWriteLatency	Critical
BlockedCompactionTasksFound	Critical
HighPendingCompactionTasks	Warning
UnavailableWriteRequestsFound	Critical
HintsStoredOnNode	Warning
HighCpuUsage / HighMemoryUsage	Critical

Trade-offs

Strengths	Considerations
Deepest integration — 3 dashboards covering cluster, node, and keyspace levels	Requires JMX Exporter setup on every node (additional component)
Compaction and repair tracking for operational health	JVM metrics add cardinality
Log collection for system-level troubleshooting	More complex initial setup than other integrations

Documentation

View the full documentation. Learning path coming soon!

Apache Cassandra integration

MySQL integration

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:47:35 -0500

MySQL integration

If you can’t use Database Observability for MySQL — for example, if you’re running MySQL 5.6 or MariaDB — the MySQL integration provides infrastructure-level monitoring with pre-built dashboards and alerts.

Already using Database Observability for MySQL? You don’t need this integration. Database Observability includes everything the integration provides and adds query-level analysis on top. This integration is for users who need MySQL monitoring without the deeper query-level features.


What it monitors	Connections, query throughput, InnoDB buffer pool, replication status, table locks
How it works	Grafana Alloy’s built-in MySQL exporter scrapes metrics from your MySQL instance
What you get	15 alerts + 2 dashboards + log collection
Supported versions	MySQL >= 5.6, MariaDB >= 10.2

What you’ll see in the dashboards

MySQL — Connection statistics, query throughput (selects, inserts, updates, deletes), InnoDB buffer pool usage, and table lock waits
MySQL logs — Log analysis for error tracking and troubleshooting

Integration vs. Database Observability

MySQL integration	Database Observability
Aggregate query throughput	Individual query performance
Connection counts	Which connections consume resources
Replication up/down	Replication lag details
MySQL 5.6+, MariaDB 10.2+	MySQL 8.0+ only (no MariaDB)
15–20 minute setup	30–60 minute setup

Trade-offs

Strengths	Considerations
Broadest MySQL version support (5.6+, MariaDB)	No query-level visibility (no explain plans or wait events)
15 pre-built alerts covering connections, replication, and performance	Aggregate metrics only — can’t identify specific slow queries
Log collection for error tracking	For MySQL 8.0+, Database Observability is the better choice

Learning path

Monitor MySQL with Grafana Alloy

Welcome to the Grafana learning path that shows you how to monitor MySQL databases with Grafana Alloy and use pre-built dashboards and alerts in Grafana Cloud.

17 min

Beginner

Docs & blog posts

Open in Grafana Cloud

Complete this learning path directly in your Grafana Cloud stack with an interactive learning experience.

Open in Grafana Cloud

View on website

Path completed

PostgreSQL integration

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:47:35 -0500

PostgreSQL integration

If you need infrastructure-level PostgreSQL monitoring without the deeper query analysis that Database Observability provides, the PostgreSQL integration gives you connections, replication, cache performance, and table-level metrics out of the box.

Already using Database Observability for PostgreSQL? You don’t need this integration. Database Observability includes everything the integration provides and adds query-level analysis on top. This integration is for users who want PostgreSQL monitoring without the deeper query-level features.


What it monitors	Connections, replication lag, cache hit ratios, locks, table bloat, background writer, and query stats (with pg_stat_statements)
How it works	Grafana Alloy’s built-in PostgreSQL exporter scrapes metrics from your PostgreSQL instance
What you get	19 alerts + 4 dashboards + log collection
Supported versions	Broad PostgreSQL version support

What you’ll see in the dashboards

PostgreSQL cluster overview — Cluster-wide connection usage, transaction throughput, cache hit ratio, and replication status
PostgreSQL instance overview — Per-instance sizes, throughput, and cache statistics
PostgreSQL query performance — Top queries by calls, total time, and mean time (requires pg_stat_statements extension)
PostgreSQL logs — Log analysis for error tracking and troubleshooting

Integration vs. Database Observability

PostgreSQL integration	Database Observability
Aggregate query statistics (pg_stat_statements)	Individual query samples with timing
Connection and lock counts	Which connections consume resources
Replication status	Replication lag with detail
Table bloat and vacuum tracking	Explain plans and wait events
Broad PostgreSQL version support	PostgreSQL 14+ with pg_stat_statements
15–20 minute setup	30–60 minute setup

Trade-offs

Strengths	Considerations
Richest integration — 19 alerts and 4 dashboards	No explain plans or wait events
Table-level vacuum and bloat tracking	Aggregate query stats, not individual query samples
Log collection for error tracking	For deep query analysis, Database Observability is the better choice
Broad PostgreSQL version support	Query performance dashboard requires pg_stat_statements extension

Learning path

Monitor PostgreSQL with Grafana Alloy

Welcome to the Grafana learning path that shows you how to monitor PostgreSQL databases with Grafana Alloy and use pre-built dashboards and alerts in Grafana Cloud.

18 min

Beginner

Docs & blog posts

Open in Grafana Cloud

Complete this learning path directly in your Grafana Cloud stack with an interactive learning experience.

Open in Grafana Cloud

View on website

Path completed

Oracle Database integration

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:47:35 -0500

Oracle Database integration

Oracle Database is a multi-model relational database management system used widely in enterprise environments. The Oracle Database integration monitors session and process activity, tablespace utilization, and wait events.


What it monitors	Sessions, processes, tablespace usage, wait times, resource limits, and `oracledb_up` availability
How it works	Grafana Alloy’s built-in OracleDB exporter scrapes metrics from your Oracle instance using Oracle Instant Client
What you get	3 alerts + 1 dashboard (OracleDB Overview) + log collection (alert log)
Prerequisites	Oracle Instant Client installed on the Alloy host with `ORACLE_HOME` set (Alloy 1.9.0+), plus a monitoring user with specific `SELECT` grants

What you’ll see in the dashboard

Sessions and processes — Active sessions, process counts, and how close you are to configured limits
Tablespace utilization — Used vs. allocated space across tablespaces
Wait events — Which categories of waits are consuming time inside the database
Resource limits — Current values against v$resource_limit thresholds
Availability — oracledb_up for at-a-glance health

Key alerts

Alert	Severity
OracleSessionLimitApproaching	Warning
OracleProcessLimitApproaching	Warning
OracleTablespaceCapacityApproaching	Warning

Trade-offs

Strengths	Considerations
Covers the metrics Oracle DBAs watch most closely — sessions, processes, tablespaces, waits	Requires Oracle Instant Client on the Alloy host with `ORACLE_HOME` configured
Log collection for the Oracle alert log alongside metrics	Single dashboard with three alerts — leaner than other integrations
Works against self-managed Oracle and Oracle on cloud-hosted VMs	No query-level analysis; Database Observability doesn’t yet support Oracle

Documentation

View the full documentation. Learning path coming soon!

Oracle Database integration

Hands-on exercise summary

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:47:35 -0500

Hands-on exercise summary

What you accomplished:

Installed Grafana Alloy and configured a database exporter
Connected your database metrics to Grafana Cloud
Installed pre-built dashboards and alerts
Verified that metrics flow to your Grafana Cloud stack

Skills unlocked:

Skill	You can now…
Metric collection	Configure Grafana Alloy to collect database metrics
Pre-built dashboards	Monitor database health with purpose-built visualizations
Alerting	Receive notifications when your database needs attention
Log collection	Correlate database logs with metrics (Cassandra, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle)

What’s next

Try another database — Go back and choose a different integration: MongoDB | Redis | Memcached | Cassandra | MySQL | PostgreSQL | Oracle
Browse integrations — Explore all available Grafana Cloud integrations