Cloud Monitoring
What is Cloud Monitoring?
Cloud monitoring is the process of reviewing and managing the operational workflow and processes within a cloud infrastructure or asset. It’s generally implemented through automated monitoring software that gives central access and control over the cloud infrastructure.
Admins can review the operational status and health of cloud servers and components.
Concerns arise based on the type of cloud structure you have, and your strategy for using it. If you’re using a public cloud service, you tend to have limited control and visibility for managing and monitoring the infrastructure. A private cloud, which most large organizations use, provides the internal IT department more control and flexibility, with added consumption benefits.
Regardless of the type of cloud structure your company uses, monitoring is critical to performance and security.
How Cloud Monitoring Works
The cloud has many moving parts, and it’s important to ensure everything works together seamlessly to optimize performance. Cloud Monitoring primarily includes functions such as:
- Website monitoring: Tracking the processes, traffic, availability and resource utilization of cloud-hosted websites
- Virtual machine monitoring: Monitoring the virtualization infrastructure and individual virtual machines
- Database monitoring: Monitoring processes, queries, availability, and consumption of cloud database resources
- Virtual network monitoring: Monitoring virtual network resources, devices, connections, and performance
- Cloud storage monitoring: Monitoring storage resources and their processes provisioned to virtual machines, services, databases, and applications
Cloud Monitoring Capabilities
Cloud monitoring makes it easier to identify patterns and discover potential security risks in the infrastructure. Some key capabilities of cloud monitoring include:
- Ability to monitor large volumes of cloud data across many distributed locations
- Gain visibility into application, user, and file behavior to identify potential attacks or compromises
- Continuous monitoring to ensure new and modified files are scanned in real time
- Auditing and reporting capabilities to manage security compliance
- Integrating monitoring tools with a range of cloud service providers