Netflow and Nebius Cloud Monitoring Integration

Input and output integration overview

The Netflow plugin is designed to collect traffic flow data from devices using the Netflow v5, v9 and IPFIX protocols. By capturing detailed flow information, this plugin supports network observability and analysis, enabling administrators to monitor traffic patterns and performance metrics effectively.

This plugin allows users to effortlessly send aggregated metrics to Nebius Cloud Monitoring, leveraging the cloud’s monitoring solutions.

Integration details

Netflow

The Netflow plugin serves as a collector for flow data using protocols such as Netflow v5, Netflow v9, and IPFIX. This plugin allows users to gather important flow metrics from devices that support these protocols, including a variety of operational insights about traffic patterns, source/destination information, and protocol usage. The plugin leverages templates sent by flow devices to decode incoming data correctly, and it supports private enterprise number mappings for vendor-specific information. With features like adjustable service addresses and buffer sizes, the plugin provides flexibility in how it can be deployed within various network architectures, making it an essential tool for network monitoring and analysis.

Nebius Cloud Monitoring

The Nebius Cloud Monitoring plugin serves as an intermediary to send custom metrics to the Nebius Cloud Monitoring service. It is designed specifically to facilitate the monitoring of applications and services running within the Nebius ecosystem. This plugin is especially useful for users of the Nebius Cloud Platform who need to leverage cloud-based monitoring capabilities without significant configuration overhead. The plugin’s integration relies on Google Cloud metadata, allowing it to automatically fetch the necessary authentication credentials from the Compute instance it operates within. Key technical considerations include the management of reserved labels to ensure metrics are recorded correctly without conflicts.

Configuration

Netflow

[[inputs.netflow]]
  ## Address to listen for netflow,ipfix or sflow packets.
  ##   example: service_address = "udp://:2055"
  ##            service_address = "udp4://:2055"
  ##            service_address = "udp6://:2055"
  service_address = "udp://:2055"

  ## Set the size of the operating system's receive buffer.
  ##   example: read_buffer_size = "64KiB"
  ## Uses the system's default if not set.
  # read_buffer_size = ""

  ## Protocol version to use for decoding.
  ## Available options are
  ##   "ipfix"      -- IPFIX / Netflow v10 protocol (also works for Netflow v9)
  ##   "netflow v5" -- Netflow v5 protocol
  ##   "netflow v9" -- Netflow v9 protocol (also works for IPFIX)
  ##   "sflow v5"   -- sFlow v5 protocol
  # protocol = "ipfix"

  ## Private Enterprise Numbers (PEN) mappings for decoding
  ## This option allows to specify vendor-specific mapping files to use during
  ## decoding.
  # private_enterprise_number_files = []

  ## Log incoming packets for tracing issues
  # log_level = "trace"

Nebius Cloud Monitoring

[[outputs.nebius_cloud_monitoring]]
  ## Timeout for HTTP writes.
  # timeout = "20s"

  ## Nebius.Cloud monitoring API endpoint. Normally should not be changed
  # endpoint = "https://monitoring.api.il.nebius.cloud/monitoring/v2/data/write"

Input and output integration examples

Netflow

1. Traffic Analysis and Visualization: Use the Netflow plugin to collect traffic flow data and visualize it in real-time using an analytics platform. Administrators can create dashboards that display traffic patterns and anomalies, helping them understand bandwidth usage and user behavior.

2. Network Performance Optimization: Integrate the Netflow plugin with performance monitoring tools to identify bottlenecks and optimize the network. Analyze collected metrics to pinpoint areas where network resources can be improved, enhancing overall system performance.

3. Anomaly Detection for Security: Leverage the Netflow data for security analysis by feeding it into an anomaly detection system. This can help identify unusual traffic patterns that may indicate potential security threats, enabling quicker responses to prevent breaches.

4. Customized Alerts for Network Events: Configure threshold-based alerts using the Netflow plugin metrics to notify network administrators of unusual spikes or drops in traffic. This proactive monitoring can help in quickly addressing potential issues before they escalate.

Nebius Cloud Monitoring

1. Dynamic Application Monitoring: Integrate this plugin with your application to continuously send metrics related to resource usage, such as CPU and memory utilization, to Nebius Cloud Monitoring. By doing so, you can gain insights into the performance of your application, allowing for adjustments in real-time based on the metrics received.

2. Incident Response Automation: Use the Nebius Cloud Monitoring plugin to automatically send alerts and metrics when certain thresholds are reached. For instance, if a particular service’s uptime drops below a certain percentage, the plugin can be configured to report this directly to the monitoring service, enabling quicker incident response and resolution.

3. Comparative Service Analysis: Set up the plugin to send metrics from multiple cloud instances running different versions of the same application to Nebius Cloud Monitoring. This approach allows for a comparative analysis of resource usage and performance, helping teams determine which version performs best under similar workloads.

4. Aggregated Metrics Dashboard: Use this plugin to create a centralized dashboard displaying metrics from various services across your cloud instances. By aggregating different application metrics into one interface, stakeholders can assess the overall health and performance of their cloud environment easily.

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