Understanding DataSources
LogicMonitor DataSources are templates that contain information about how to monitor a particular device, including what metrics to collect, what graphs to display, and what values indicate an issue that needs attention. Each metric that is being collected is called a datapoint, and each DataSource template contains one or more pre-defined datapoints.
How are DataSources applied to devices?
Each DataSource template has an Applies To field. The functions that are specified in the Applies To field are checked against device properties to see if the DataSource template applies to the device. When the functions in the Applies To field match a device's properties, the DataSource is automatically applied to the device:
Single vs Multi-Instance DataSources:
If the DataSource only has one instance to be monitored, such as main memory on a server, it is a single instance DataSource. If the DataSource has multiple instances to be monitored, such as disks on a server or ink colors in a printer, it is a multi-instance DataSource.
For example, consider a switch with multiple interfaces. It may not be useful to see latency and throughput overall for the switch, but rather we would want to see it per interface. In LogicMonitor the interfaces DataSource is a multi-instance DataSource, each switch interface is detected as an 'instance' of that DataSource, and latency and throughput are reported for each instance (each interface):
Icon legend
Devices, DataSources, instances, and datapoints are represented with the following icons in your account:
How is data collected?
LogicMonitor DataSources are set up to automatically be able to start collecting metrics on most devices using one of the following monitoring protocols: