One-Pager · 8 Services

Azure
Monitoring

Every Azure monitoring and observability service on one page — metrics, logs, traces, and alerting. A quick reference for architects building observable systems.

Core Platform

Azure Monitor
Unified monitoring platform. Collects metrics and logs from all Azure resources. Alerting, dashboards, workbooks, and autoscale triggers.
Platform coreMetrics & logsAlertsWorkbooks
Log Analytics
Central log repository powered by KQL. Workspace-based with data retention policies. Foundation for Sentinel, Defender, and custom analytics.
Log aggregationKQL queriesData retentionCentral workspace
Application Insights
APM for web applications. Auto-instrumentation, distributed tracing, live metrics, smart detection. Supports .NET, Java, Node.js, Python.
APMDistributed tracingLive metricsAuto-detect
Azure Monitor Agent
Unified data collection agent replacing legacy agents (MMA, Telegraf). Data Collection Rules define what to collect and where to send it.
Data collectionUnified agentDCR-basedReplaces MMA

Specialized Monitoring

Network Watcher
Network diagnostics and monitoring. NSG flow logs, packet capture, connection troubleshoot, topology visualization, VPN diagnostics.
Network diagFlow logsPacket captureTopology
Service Health
Personalized dashboard for Azure service issues, planned maintenance, and health advisories affecting your resources. Custom alerts.
Outage alertsMaintenanceHealth advisoriesPersonalized
Azure Advisor
Personalized recommendations for reliability, security, performance, cost, and operational excellence. Actionable suggestions based on your resources.
RecommendationsCost savingsBest practicesActionable
Managed Grafana
Fully managed Grafana instance. Native integration with Azure Monitor, Data Explorer, and Prometheus. Pre-built Azure dashboards.
VisualizationGrafanaPrometheusAzure-native

Quick Comparison

ServiceData TypeQuery LanguageBest ForCost Model
Azure MonitorMetrics + LogsKQLPlatform monitoring, alertsPer GB ingested
Log AnalyticsLogsKQLCentral log store, compliancePer GB + retention
Application InsightsTraces + MetricsKQLApplication performancePer GB ingested
Network WatcherNetwork telemetryPortal / CLINetwork diagnosticsPer feature
Managed GrafanaAny (data sources)PromQL / KQLDashboards, visualizationPer instance
AdvisorRecommendations—Cost, security, reliabilityFree