Imagine a sudden drop in your website’s performance causing a flood of customer complaints and a significant dip in sales. Infrastructure monitoring tools can save the day by quickly identifying and resolving these issues. But with so many options, which tool should you choose?
In this article, we provide a quick refresher on what is infrastructure monitoring, outline features to look out for in a best-fit solution and highlight the top infrastructure monitoring tools available in the market.
Quick Comparison of Top Infrastructure Monitoring Tools
To help you quickly grasp the key features and differences among the top infrastructure monitoring tools, we have compiled a comparison table below.
| Tool | Key Features | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
| SigNoz | Open-source, distributed tracing, RED metrics, multi-cloud support, low resource consumption, secure data | Easy configuration, end-to-end visibility, OpenTelemetry support, single tool for all telemetry types | Lacks SIEM |
| Datadog | Unified APM, distributed tracing, cloud cost allocation, audit trailing, machine learning-based alerts | Extensive integrations, cloud SIEM, network monitoring | Not OpenTelemetry native, cloud-only, expensive, complex billing |
| Dynatrace | PurePath tracing, application maps, parallel processing, log to metrics conversion, security integrations | Adaptable pricing, customizable dashboards, ITSM integrations, extensive APIs and extensions | Limited customization, requires multiple integrations, steep learning curve, high license costs |
| SolarWinds | Full-stack observability, server capacity planning, network performance monitor, database monitoring | Intelligent alerts, resource exhaustion predictions, easy scalability, regular updates and support | Cumbersome custom feature configuration, complex alerting |
| Zabbix | Agent-based and agentless monitoring, data encryption, real-time anomaly detection, flexible server support | Highly scalable, comprehensive documentation, free license, no vendor lock-in | Complex configuration, needs UI enhancement |
| ManageEngine | Data center infrastructure management, network mapping, security analysis, color-coded severity alarms | User-friendly, automated fault management, multichannel alerting, enterprise scalability | Confusing automatic setup, cannot monitor certain databases |
| New Relic | Agent installation, anomaly detection, app performance correlation, error analytics, NRQL querying | Customizable alerting, multichannel notifications | Steep pricing, data ingress/egress charges, not OpenTelemetry native |
| Splunk | AI-powered, big data platform, interactive analytics, real-time troubleshooting, network visibility | Index-based storage, web interface, business KPI monitoring, self-service querying | Expensive for large data volumes, limited dashboard features |
| AppDynamics | Performance management, KPI prioritization, issue isolation, infrastructure needs metering | Task ranking, proactive isolation, Kubernetes workload detection | Complicated interface, slow non-web infrastructure instrumentation |
| Sematext | Cloud monitoring, real-time metrics, Kubernetes monitoring, varied visualizations, context-aware filtering | Fast setup, user-friendly, flexible pricing | Limited transaction tracing, lacks full-featured profiler |
| Nagios | Multi-platform monitoring, flexible deployment, powerful script APIs, automatic app restarts, open API | Extensible architecture, multi-tenant support, integrated graphs | Limited UI features, complex installation and management |
Now let's dive deep into what infrastructure monitoring involves and explore each tool in detail.
What is Infrastructure Monitoring?
Infrastructure monitoring is the process of collecting, tracking, and analyzing health and performance metrics across an enterprise’s IT infrastructure components, such as the servers, networks, databases, apps, and services. Continuous infrastructure monitoring helps enterprises detect anomalies proactively and prevent surprises (e.g. sudden downtimes or latency issues). It enables timely response to performance degradation, minimizing service disruptions and preventing customer churn.
What are Infrastructure Monitoring Tools?
Infrastructure monitoring tools are software solutions designed to collect, track, and analyze the performance and health of IT infrastructure components, such as servers, networks, databases, and applications. Continuous infrastructure monitoring help organizations proactively detect anomalies, prevent downtime, and ensure optimal performance of their IT environment.
Choosing an Infrastructure Monitoring Solution
When choosing an infrastructure monitoring tool, the following are key considerations to keep in mind to ensure that it meets your needs.
1. Integration and Resource Discovery
Choose a tool that integrates seamlessly with your stack, including containers, databases, orchestration tools, cloud infrastructure monitoring, and serverless functions. It should automatically discover and scrape metrics from autoscaled resources and scale with your organization without compromising performance.
2. Comprehensive Data Collection
Consider a tool that collects diverse data—performance metrics, logs, traces, and user experience data—from all backend components. It should correlate telemetry types and match telemetry to corresponding infrastructure for a holistic view, enabling swift detection of performance issues.
3. Real-time Monitoring and Alerting
The tool should offer real-time insights into CPU usage, disk space, network latency, response times, failed requests, error rates, etc., with instant detection and alerting on issues like packet drops or excessive pod scheduling for proactive issue resolution.
4. Customization and User-friendly Interface
Look for customizable dashboards that provide quick overviews and visual representations of infrastructure components. The tool should allow alerting thresholds for metrics and have a user-friendly interface for easy setup, navigation, and access to metadata.
5. Automation and Remediation
Choose a tool that offers automated remediation options to streamline routine tasks, save time, increase accuracy, and reduce the impact of incidents.
6. AI and ML Capabilities
Advanced tools should use AI and ML to analyze data trends, predict potential issues, and provide intelligent insights to support decision-making.
7. Security and Compliance
Ensure the tool offers robust security features, particularly encryption, to protect data and ensure compliance with regulations like SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI DSS.
Top Infrastructure Monitoring Tools
Below are 11 top infrastructure monitoring tools to consider. To determine which is best suited to your use case, benchmark them against the core features discussed above and consider other additional capabilities your enterprise may require.
1. SigNoz
SigNoz is a comprehensive open-source platform for monitoring applications and infrastructure, collecting logs, and monitoring distributed software systems. It has a distributed tracing feature that allows you to visualize the path of requests through different microservices, aiding in a thorough analysis of security and performance issues. SigNoz stands out for its capability to monitor latency metrics like P90 and P99 latency, offering valuable insights into individual service performance.
Features
- Easy configuration and active online community
- Secure data collection and out-of-the-box support for several important infrastructure components
- Minimal resource consumption; consumes up to 50% less compared to similar monitoring tools
- Multi-cloud support and integration with over 1000 tools, services and platforms
- Support for multiple programming languages, including Python, Java, Ruby, and Javascript and more.
- RED metrics, database, and external calls monitoring
- Detailed flame graphs & Gantt charts for streamlined root cause analysis
Pros
- Out-of-the-box dashboards and service maps for end-to-end visibility into your entire infrastructure
- Native support for OpenTelemetry, CNCF-backed project for telemetry collection
- Single tool for all telemetry, including metrics, logs, and distributed traces
- Columnar database for swift data ingestion and aggregation
- Custom metrics at no added costs
- Real-time alerting thresholds.
- Open-source is free to use; you only pay for data egress, and maintenance
- Provides a cloud option too
Cons
- Lacks SIEM
- Limited interface customizations, but actively adding new visualization capabilities.
Curious to see SigNoz in action? Dive deeper into its features and discover how it can revolutionize your infrastructure monitoring here.
2. Datadog
Datadog is a unified solution for application performance monitoring, distributed tracing, cloud cost allocation, and audit trailing. It is compatible with various cloud environments, IoT setups, and hybrid networks. It automates the gathering and translation of raw data into actionable insights and historical metrics.
Features
- Integrates with several tools, software and serverless platforms, including Kubernetes, MongoDB, etc.
- Offers Live Process monitor for non-stop debugging and inventory management
- Alerts via various communication channels, including Slack and PagerDuty
- Supports regulatory compliance
- Fast user session analysis for fixing UX issues
Pros
- Has a slice-and-dice feature to break down complex infrastructure using tag-based search and analytics
- Offers cloud SIEM and network monitoring
- Uses machine learning-based alerts l
Cons
- Not OpenTelemetry native, which means limited support for OpenTelemtry integration
- Cloud support only; no on-premise option
- Highly expensive solution plus costly custom metrics charges
- Complex, unpredictable billing
3. Dynatrace
Dynatrace is an intelligent observability and security platform that offers visibility into on-premise, hybrid and multi-cloud environments, as well as SaaS and PaaS solutions. It provides automatic code-level insights across all app components.
Features
- PurePath for context-based distributed tracing
- Interactive application maps for visualizing performance across interdependent services
- Grail, a parallel processing component for fast, large-scale, and precise telemetry analysis
- Log to metrics conversion for reducing data volumes and cost
- Integration with CNAPP, CDR, and CSPM platforms for real-time web security and incident remediation
Pros
- Adaptable pricing model based on the number of hosts monitored and the amount of data consumed
- Customizable dashboards for quick overviews of cloud health status and local infrastructure performance
- ITSM platform integrations to enable flexible alerting and ticket prioritization for DevSecOps teams
- Extensive APIs and ready-to-use extensions are available on the Dynatrace Hub to enhance cross-team collaboration.
Cons
- Limited customization and visualizations
- Requires multiple integrations to properly serve multiple use cases
- Highly complex platform, with a steep learning curve
- High license costs
4. SolarWinds
SolarWinds is a full-stack observability platform for self-hosted, hybrid, cloud, and multi-cloud infrastructures.’ Its Server and Application Monitor (SAM) is ideal for server capacity planning and end-to-end visualization of apps and dependencies. Its Network Performance Monitor helps track traffic, bandwidth, compliance, and security-related issues. It also has a database monitoring platform that integrates and scales easily for high-performance queries.
Features
- Integration with multiple network monitoring devices, APIs, and open-source frameworks
- Database Performance Analyzer for machine learning-powered anomaly detection
- Pingdom for UX, server uptime and transaction monitoring.
- Comprehensive visualization tools e.g. customizable, topological maps for analyzing traffic flow
Pros
- Drills down on root causes using intelligent alerts
- Automatically calculates resource exhaustion dates using customizable thresholds based on peak and average usage.
- Scales easily with no noticeable performance issues
- Rolls out regular updates and offers technical support where necessary
Cons
- Configuring custom features can be cumbersome
- Overly complex alerting
5. Zabbix
Zabbix is an enterprise-class open-source network, server, virtual machine and cloud monitoring solution. It is equipped with various customization options and backed by a dedicated support community. Zabbix offers both agent-based and agentless monitoring. Its agentless solution is accessible through a web-based interface, enabling remote monitoring. Zabbix automatically discovers and organizes devices and assets on the dashboard for comprehensive visibility.
Features
- Endpoint monitoring
- Several data collection methods: Zabbix native agents, SNMP, IPMI, WMI, trappers, SSH, Telnet and web checks.
- Severity level-based alerting
- Multiple resource discovery options: Network, low-level, and automatic discovery to ensure no resource is left untracked
- Data encryption
- Real-time anomaly detection and trend prediction
- Flexible server for UNIX and UNIX-like operating systems
Pros
- Highly scalable
- Comprehensive documentation
- Free license for commercial and non-commercial use, with no vendor lock-in
Cons
- It is complex to configure and requires some learning time to operate
- Its user interface needs further enhancement
6. ManageEngine
ManageEngine is an observability tool with various solutions for monitoring networks, systems, and applications. Its OpManager Plus is an infrastructure monitoring solution that takes bandwidth monitoring beyond the conventional, with granular analysis of traffic patterns and user experience that allow you to pinpoint bandwidth hogs seamlessly. It offers WLC, fault and performance, VoIP, WAN RTT, and network monitoring.
Features
- Comprehensive data center infrastructure management (DCIM)
- Switch port and IP address monitoring
- Over 100 parameters of network and server performance monitoring
- SNMP feature for automated network mapping
- Advanced Security Analysis Module (ASAM), which analyzes bandwidth patterns to predict anomalies and security threats
- Color-coded severity-based alarms for proactive, priority-based anomaly remediation
Pros
- User-friendly interface
- Automated fault management
- Multichannel and easy-to-read alerting
- Enterprise-level scalability
Cons
- Automatic setup of multiple devices across various network addresses often confuse the OpManager system
- It cannot monitor certain databases, such as SAP IQ, SAP Hana
7. New Relic
New Relic is a web-based full-stack monitoring tool for tracking applications, infrastructure, web browsers, and more. It provides real-time infrastructure performance and supports various programming languages, including PHP, Java, Python, and Ruby.
Features
- Guided agent installation process with automatic system component detection
- New Relic Applied Intelligence for precise anomaly detection
- App performance and UX correlation
- In-depth error analytics to pinpoint error locations and associated transactions
- New Relic Health Map for tracking infrastructure uptime, downtime and trends over time
- New Relic Query Language (NRQL) for iterative data querying
Pros
- Customizable alerting that lets you focus on only the desired infrastructure components
- Multichannel alerting via email, OpsGenie, Slack, etc.
Cons
- Very steep user-based pricing
- Data ingress and egress charges
- Not OpenTelemetry native; processing and visualizing OpenTelemetry data requires additional configurations
8. Splunk
Splunk is an AI-powered big data platform for collecting and managing systems, applications and infrastructure telemetry. It generates analytical reports using interactive charts and graphs, and allows for real-time troubleshooting to reduce MTTR.
Features
- Data collection in various formats, including CSV, JSON and logs.
- Metrics pipeline management to eliminate unnecessary data
- Intuitive central repository for searching data from multiple sources.
- Fast processing and analysis
- Network Explorer for real-time network visibility
Pros
- Index-based storage
- Web browser interface for fast data aggregation and analysis
- Business KPI monitoring
- Ad Hoc querying and self-service
Cons
- Can be pricey, especially when used for large data volumes
- Limited dashboard features
9. AppDynamics
AppDynamics is a monitoring platform that focuses on performance management and analytics across your entire stack. While it offers a variety of useful tools for businesses, it is primarily geared towards large enterprises with wide budgets. AppDynamics offers preset application infrastructure metrics and default health rules to help you identify and address infrastructure issues. You can customize persistent metrics to align monitoring with your business requirements and application setup.
Features
- Issue prioritization to reduce noise
- Correlation Analysis and Scalability Analysis with KPI prioritization to help users understand how infrastructure metrics impact business transaction performance.
- Metric Browser for analyzing infrastructure metrics
- Infrastructure needs metering to alert users or automatically scale usage to minimize waste.
Pros
- Ranks tasks between new and legacy environments to monitor enterprises’ most pressing enterprise infrastructure.
- Proactive issue isolation
- Fast issue detection in Kubernetes workloads and containerized apps
Cons
- Complicated user interface
- Extremely slow instrumentation of non-web infrastructure
10. Sematext
Sematext is a cloud monitoring tool that provides visibility into infrastructure performance and helps you manage your systems proactively. With its real-time monitoring, you can track server metrics and key transactions. Sematext lets you troubleshoot individual resources or your entire stack as required.
Features
- Fast setup and user-friendly dashboard
- Container and Kubernetes monitoring with automatic alerting on Pods, Deployments and clusters
- Varied visualization options, including charts, graphs, and heatmaps
- Context-aware data filtering
- Historical data storage and trend analysis
- Integration with Logstash, Syslog, Fluentd, Beats, Logagent, and other telemetry shipping tools
Pros
- Granular Real-user monitoring
- Dynamic network mapping
- Flexible, pay-as-you-go subscription and pricing
Cons
- Limited support for transaction tracing
- Lacks full-featured profiler and intuitive interface
11. Nagios
Nagios is a multi faceted monitoring solution. Its infrastructure monitoring tool, Nagios XI, monitors your entire infrastructure stack and effortlessly identifies remote server outages. Nagios XI also facilitates prompt remedial failover operations with at-a-glance insights into issues across your entire infrastructure. Nagios XI is customizable and helps automate infrastructure monitoring exercises.
Features
- Monitors Windows, Linux, and Unix servers, as well as Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, Mac OS X, etc.
- Flexible agent-based or agentless deployment
- Powerful script APIs for stress-free monitoring
- Event handlers for automatically restarting failed apps
- Open API for seamless third-party integrations
Pros
- Extensible monitoring architecture
- Support for multi-tenant environments
- Integrated graphs for informed upgrade decision-making
Cons
- Limited user interface features; requires graphical enhancement
- Complicated, time-consuming installation and management
Community Recommendations
In a Reddit discussion, sysadmins shared their favorite infrastructure monitoring tools:
- Checkmk: Great for monitoring a wide range of services with strong alerting capabilities. Dashboarding can be less intuitive.
- Netdata: Excellent for real-time monitoring but can have resource utilization issues in production.
- PRTG: Versatile and user-friendly with good support, but bulk editing sensors can be tricky.
- Zabbix: Powerful and flexible, especially for Kubernetes. Initial setup can be complex.
- NetCrunch: Agentless with comprehensive features. Steep learning curve but very flexible.
- SigNoz: cost-effective option, it offers comprehensive open-source monitoring with robust features and low resource consumption.
Which is the best Infrastructure Monitoring Tool?
Infrastructure monitoring helps modern businesses optimize the performance, security, and availability of their IT systems. However, choosing the right monitoring tool is at the core of this practice, and this article has provided an overview of the top infrastructure monitoring tools to help you choose your ideal solution.
Of all the tools outlined, SigNoz stands out with its free monitoring platform, combined with its granular telemetry aggregation, analysis, and visualization, priority-based alerting, and cost-efficient data egress billing.
To learn more about Infrastructure Monitoring with SigNoz and its features, checkout this Youtube Video: Monitoring Infrastructure System Metrics using OpenTelemetry | SigNoz
Getting Started with SigNoz
SigNoz cloud is the easiest way to run SigNoz. Sign up for a free
account and get 30 days of unlimited access to all features. 
You can
also install and self-host SigNoz yourself since it is open-source. With 16,000+ GitHub stars,
open-source SigNoz is loved by developers. Find the
instructions to self-host SigNoz.
Conclusion
In summary, infrastructure monitoring is crucial for maintaining the health and performance of your IT systems. Here are the key takeaways:
- SigNoz: Best for open-source, comprehensive monitoring with low resource consumption.
- Datadog: Great for extensive integrations and advanced features, but costly.
- Dynatrace: Offers deep insights and customizability, with a steep learning curve.
- SolarWinds: Ideal for server capacity planning and network performance monitoring.
- Zabbix: Highly scalable and free, but complex to configure.
- ManageEngine: User-friendly with automated fault management, but limited in database monitoring.
- New Relic: Customizable alerting with steep pricing.
- Splunk: AI-powered analytics, but expensive for large data volumes.
- AppDynamics: Proactive issue isolation, but complicated interface.
- Sematext: Fast setup with flexible pricing, but limited transaction tracing.
- Nagios: Extensible architecture with complex installation.
FAQs
What is infrastructure monitoring?
Infrastructure monitoring is the process of collecting, tracking, and analyzing health and performance metrics across IT infrastructure components like servers, networks, databases, and applications. It helps detect anomalies proactively and ensures optimal performance.
What is an APM tool?
An APM (Application Performance Monitoring) tool is software that monitors and manages the performance and availability of software applications. It helps detect and diagnose performance issues to ensure a seamless user experience.
What is an infrastructure management tool?
An infrastructure management tool helps manage and optimize the various components of an IT infrastructure, including hardware, software, networks, and storage. It ensures efficient resource utilization and smooth operation of IT environments.
What are the 3 primary components of infrastructure?
The three primary components of infrastructure are:
- Computing resources: Servers, virtual machines, and cloud services.
- Networking resources: Routers, switches, and network links.
- Storage resources: Databases, storage arrays, and cloud storage.
What are the three main types of monitoring?
The three main types of monitoring are:
- Infrastructure monitoring: Tracking the health and performance of IT components.
- Application monitoring: Monitoring the performance and availability of software applications.
- Network monitoring: Observing network performance, traffic, and connectivity.
How do I choose a monitoring tool?
To choose a monitoring tool, consider the following factors:
- Integration capabilities with your existing stack.
- Comprehensive data collection and real-time alerting features.
- Customization options for dashboards and alerts.
- Automation and remediation capabilities.
- AI and ML capabilities for predictive insights.
- Security and compliance features.
What is APM in infrastructure?
APM (Application Performance Monitoring) in infrastructure refers to the tools and practices used to monitor and manage the performance and availability of software applications within the IT infrastructure. It ensures that applications run smoothly and meet performance standards.
Which APM tool is best?
The best APM tool depends on your specific needs and environment. SigNoz is highly recommended for its comprehensive open-source monitoring capabilities and cost-efficiency. Other popular options include Datadog, New Relic, Dynatrace, and AppDynamics, each offering unique features and capabilities.
What is the difference between application monitoring and infrastructure monitoring?
Application monitoring focuses on the performance and availability of software applications, while infrastructure monitoring tracks the health and performance of IT components like servers, networks, and storage. Both are crucial for ensuring optimal IT operations.
What are the sensors for infrastructure monitoring?
Sensors for infrastructure monitoring include software agents, SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) agents, IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface) sensors, and log collectors that gather performance data from various infrastructure components.
What is IaaS monitoring?
IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) monitoring involves tracking the performance and health of virtualized computing resources provided by cloud service providers. It ensures the efficient operation of virtual machines, storage, and network resources in a cloud environment.
What is the best tool for infrastructure monitoring?
SigNoz is highly recommended for infrastructure monitoring due to its comprehensive features, open-source nature, and cost-efficiency. It provides robust telemetry aggregation, analysis, and visualization, making it a top choice for many organizations.
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