Prometheus
February 22, 2026
What it is
Prometheus scrapes metrics from targets (HTTP), stores time-series data, and evaluates alerting rules. Query language PromQL; de facto standard for cloud-native metrics.
Usage
Scrape app and infra metrics; alert on thresholds; integrate with Grafana for dashboards; use Exporters for third-party systems.
Pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Pull model; simple to run | Not for logs or traces (use Loki/Jaeger) |
| PromQL powerful | Storage can grow; retention tuning |
| Huge exporter ecosystem | |
| CNCF graduated project |
Alternatives
VictoriaMetrics (storage), Thanos/Cortex (scale-out). Why Prometheus: Standard for K8s and cloud-native metrics; best ecosystem.
Links
- Homepage: https://prometheus.io/
- Documentation: https://prometheus.io/docs/
- Source: https://github.com/prometheus/prometheus