Manuals / Observability Basics / Ch 3

A · PillarsBeginner35 min read

3. Metrics & dashboards

Observability Basics · 36 pages source format

RED (Rate, Errors, Duration) and USE (Utilization, Saturation, Errors). Prefer percentiles. Know gold signals.

What you'll learn

  • RED/USE
  • Cardinality caution
  • Dashboard reading

Read a service dashboard

Do this now

Screenshot or note: RPS, error rate, p95 latency during a quiet and a busy window.

Pro tip. A flat average with spiky p99 means someone is hurting.

Clear?

Checklist