InfiniBand and Clarify Integration

Input and output integration overview

The InfiniBand Telegraf plugin collects performance metrics from all InfiniBand devices installed on a Linux system, providing essential insights for monitoring network performance and reliability.

The Clarify plugin allows users to publish Telegraf metrics directly to Clarify, enabling enhanced analysis and monitoring capabilities.

Integration details

InfiniBand

This plugin gathers statistics for all InfiniBand devices and ports on the system. InfiniBand is a high-speed networking technology commonly used in high-performance computing and enterprise data centers. The plugin retrieves various performance counters from the system’s InfiniBand devices located in /sys/class/infiniband/<dev>/port/<port>/counters/. The metrics depend on the specific InfiniBand hardware and include various packet and error statistics that are essential for monitoring network health and performance. By utilizing this plugin, users can gain insights into the operational status of their InfiniBand networks, helping to identify potential issues and optimize performance.

Clarify

This plugin facilitates the writing of Telegraf metrics to Clarify, a platform for managing and analyzing time series data. By transforming metrics into Clarify signals, this output plugin enables seamless integration of collected telemetry data into the Clarify ecosystem. Users must obtain valid credentials, either through a credentials file or basic authentication, to configure the plugin. The configuration also provides options for fine-tuning how metrics are mapped to signals in Clarify, including the ability to specify unique identifiers using tags. Given that Clarify supports only floating point values, the plugin ensures that any unsupported types are effectively filtered out during the publishing process. This comprehensive connectivity aligns with use cases in monitoring, data analysis, and operational insights.

Configuration

InfiniBand

# Gets counters from all InfiniBand cards and ports installed
# This plugin ONLY supports Linux
[[inputs.infiniband]]
  # no configuration

  ## Collect RDMA counters
  # gather_rdma = false

Clarify

[[outputs.clarify]]
  ## Credentials File (Oauth 2.0 from Clarify integration)
  credentials_file = "/path/to/clarify/credentials.json"

  ## Clarify username password (Basic Auth from Clarify integration)
  username = "i-am-bob"
  password = "secret-password"

  ## Timeout for Clarify operations
  # timeout = "20s"

  ## Optional tags to be included when generating the unique ID for a signal in Clarify
  # id_tags = []
  # clarify_id_tag = 'clarify_input_id'

Input and output integration examples

InfiniBand

1. Performance Monitoring in High-Performance Computing (HPC): Monitor the performance metrics of InfiniBand interconnects in a high-performance computing cluster. By analyzing metrics such as packet errors and throughput, system administrators can ensure optimal operation and quickly identify any performance degradation. This setup enhances the reliability of computational tasks by allowing timely interventions based on accurate monitoring data.

2. Network Health Audits: Perform routine health checks of InfiniBand networks. The detailed metrics gathered, such as excessive buffer overruns and link integrity errors, provide valuable insights for network audits. By establishing baseline performance and watching for anomalies, IT professionals can ensure the stability and performance of critical infrastructures.

3. Integration with Alerting Systems: Set up the InfiniBand plugin to work in conjunction with alerting systems to trigger notifications based on performance thresholds. For instance, if the number of link errors exceeds a predefined limit, an alert can be sent to the network operations team. This proactive approach ensures that potential issues are addressed before they impact business operations.

4. Data Visualization Dashboards: Feed InfiniBand metrics to a visualization tool to create dashboards that display the real-time performance of the network. This can help stakeholders visualize critical data such as packet transmission rates and errors, facilitating better decision-making regarding network management and capacity planning.

Clarify

1. Automated Data Monitoring: By integrating the Clarify plugin with sensor data collection, organizations can automate the monitoring of environmental conditions, such as temperature and humidity. The plugin processes metrics in real-time, sending updates to Clarify where they can be analyzed for trends, alerts, and historical tracking. This use case makes it easier to maintain optimal conditions in data centers or production environments, reducing the risk of equipment failures.

2. Performance Metrics Analysis: Companies can leverage this plugin to send application performance metrics to Clarify. By transmitting key indicators such as response times and error rates, developers and operations teams can utilize Clarify’s capabilities to visualize and analyze application performance over time. This insight can drive improvements in user experience and help identify areas in need of optimization.

3. Sensor Data Aggregation: Utilizing the plugin to push data from multiple sensors to Clarify allows for a comprehensive view of physical environments. This aggregation is particularly beneficial in sectors such as agriculture, where metrics from various sensors can be correlated to decision-making about resource allocations, pest control, and crop management. The plugin ensures the data is accurately mapped and transformed for effective analysis.

4. Real-Time Alerts and Notifications: Implement the Clarify plugin to trigger real-time alerts based on predefined thresholds within the metrics being sent. For instance, if temperature readings exceed certain levels, alerts can be generated and sent to operational staff. This proactive approach allows for immediate responses to potential issues, enhancing operational reliability and safety.

Feedback

Thank you for being part of our community! If you have any general feedback or found any bugs on these pages, we welcome and encourage your input. Please submit your feedback in the InfluxDB community Slack.