NATS and Apache Inlong Integration

Input and output integration overview

The NATS Consumer Input Plugin enables real-time data consumption from NATS messaging subjects, integrating seamlessly into the Telegraf data pipeline for monitoring and metrics gathering.

The Inlong plugin connects Telegraf to Apache InLong, enabling seamless transmission of collected metrics to an InLong instance.

Integration details

NATS

The NATS Consumer Plugin allows Telegraf to read metrics from specified NATS subjects and create metrics based on supported input data formats. Utilizing a Queue Group allows multiple instances of Telegraf to read from a NATS cluster in parallel, enhancing throughput and reliability. This plugin also supports various authentication methods, including username/password, NATS credentials files, and nkey seed files, ensuring secure communication with the NATS servers. It is particularly useful in environments where data persistence and message reliability are critical, thanks to features such as JetStream that facilitate the consumption of historical messages. Additionally, the ability to configure various operational parameters makes this plugin suitable for high-throughput scenarios while maintaining performance integrity.

Apache Inlong

This Inlong plugin is designed to publish metrics to an Apache InLong instance, which facilitates the management of data streams in a scalable manner. Apache InLong provides a robust framework for efficient data transmission between various components in a distributed environment. By leveraging this plugin, users can effectively route and transmit metrics collected by Telegraf to their InLong data-proxy infrastructure. As a key component in a data pipeline, the Inlong Output Plugin helps ensure that data is consistently formatted, streamed correctly, and managed in compliance with the standards set by Apache InLong, making it an essential tool for organizations looking to enhance their data analytics and reporting capabilities.

Configuration

NATS

[[inputs.nats_consumer]]
  ## urls of NATS servers
  servers = ["nats://localhost:4222"]

  ## subject(s) to consume
  ## If you use jetstream you need to set the subjects
  ## in jetstream_subjects
  subjects = ["telegraf"]

  ## jetstream subjects
  ## jetstream is a streaming technology inside of nats.
  ## With jetstream the nats-server persists messages and
  ## a consumer can consume historical messages. This is
  ## useful when telegraf needs to restart it don't miss a
  ## message. You need to configure the nats-server.
  ## https://docs.nats.io/nats-concepts/jetstream.
  jetstream_subjects = ["js_telegraf"]

  ## name a queue group
  queue_group = "telegraf_consumers"

  ## Optional authentication with username and password credentials
  # username = ""
  # password = ""

  ## Optional authentication with NATS credentials file (NATS 2.0)
  # credentials = "/etc/telegraf/nats.creds"

  ## Optional authentication with nkey seed file (NATS 2.0)
  # nkey_seed = "/etc/telegraf/seed.txt"

  ## Use Transport Layer Security
  # secure = false

  ## Optional TLS Config
  # tls_ca = "/etc/telegraf/ca.pem"
  # tls_cert = "/etc/telegraf/cert.pem"
  # tls_key = "/etc/telegraf/key.pem"
  ## Use TLS but skip chain & host verification
  # insecure_skip_verify = false

  ## Sets the limits for pending msgs and bytes for each subscription
  ## These shouldn't need to be adjusted except in very high throughput scenarios
  # pending_message_limit = 65536
  # pending_bytes_limit = 67108864

  ## Max undelivered messages
  ## This plugin uses tracking metrics, which ensure messages are read to
  ## outputs before acknowledging them to the original broker to ensure data
  ## is not lost. This option sets the maximum messages to read from the
  ## broker that have not been written by an output.
  ##
  ## This value needs to be picked with awareness of the agent's
  ## metric_batch_size value as well. Setting max undelivered messages too high
  ## can result in a constant stream of data batches to the output. While
  ## setting it too low may never flush the broker's messages.
  # max_undelivered_messages = 1000

  ## Data format to consume.
  ## Each data format has its own unique set of configuration options, read
  ## more about them here:
  ## https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/blob/master/docs/DATA_FORMATS_INPUT.md
  data_format = "influx"

Apache Inlong

[[outputs.inlong]]
  ## Manager URL to obtain the Inlong data-proxy IP list for sending the data
  url = "http://127.0.0.1:8083"

  ## Unique identifier for the data-stream group
  group_id = "telegraf"  

  ## Unique identifier for the data stream within its group
  stream_id = "telegraf"  

  ## Data format to output.
  ## Each data format has its own unique set of configuration options, read
  ## more about them here:
  ## https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/blob/master/docs/DATA_FORMATS_OUTPUT.md
  # data_format = "influx"

Input and output integration examples

NATS

1. Real-Time Analytics Dashboard: Utilize the NATS plugin to gather metrics from various NATS subjects in real time and feed them into a centralized analytics dashboard. This setup allows for immediate visibility into live application performance, enabling teams to react swiftly to operational issues or performance degradation.

2. Distributed System Monitoring: Deploy multiple instances of Telegraf configured with the NATS plugin across a distributed architecture. This approach allows teams to aggregate metrics from various microservices efficiently, providing a holistic view of system health and performance while ensuring no messages are dropped during transmission.

3. Historical Message Recovery: Leverage the capabilities of NATS JetStream along with this plugin to recover and process historical messages after Telegraf has been restarted. This feature is particularly beneficial for applications that require high reliability, ensuring that no critical metrics are lost even in case of service disruptions.

4. Dynamic Load Balancing: Implement a dynamic load balancing scenario where Telegraf instances consume messages from a NATS cluster based on load. Adjust the queue group settings to control the number of active consumers, allowing for better resource utilization and performance scaling as demand fluctuations occur.

Apache Inlong

1. Real-time Metrics Monitoring: Integrating the Inlong plugin with a real-time monitoring dashboard allows teams to visualize system performance continuously. As metrics flow from Telegraf to InLong, organizations can create dynamic panels in their monitoring tools, providing instant insights into system health, resource utilization, and performance bottlenecks. This setup encourages proactive management and swift identification of potential issues before they escalate into critical failures.

2. Centralized Data Processing: Use the Inlong plugin to send Telegraf metrics to a centralized data processing pipeline that processes large volumes of data for analysis. By directing all collected metrics through Apache InLong, businesses can streamline their data workflows and ensure consistency in data formatting and processing. This centralized approach facilitates easier data integration with business intelligence tools and enhances decision-making through consolidated data insights.

3. Integration with Machine Learning Models: By feeding metrics collected through the Inlong Output Plugin into machine learning models, teams can enhance predictive analytics capabilities. For instance, metrics can be analyzed to predict system failures or performance trends. This application allows organizations to leverage historical data and infer future performance, helping them optimize resource allocation and minimize downtime using automated alerts based on model predictions.

Feedback

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