Slide 4 of 4

Data sources compared to integrations

Data sources compared to integrations

In Grafana Cloud’s Connections, you’ll see both data sources and integrations, sometimes with similar names. They sound alike, but they work differently. The difference comes down to where your data lives.

Data sourceIntegration
Where your data livesStays in its original system; Grafana queries it in placeCollected and sent into Grafana Cloud storage
CollectionYou set it up and run itA managed collector is installed for you
Dashboards and alertsYou build most yourself; some data sources include prebuilt dashboardsPrebuilt dashboards and alerts come with it
Migration or new storageNone; your data doesn’t moveYour data is copied into Grafana Cloud
Best whenYou already have systems you don’t want to migrateYou want a managed, batteries-included setup

Integrations are one of two ways to send data into Grafana Cloud. The other is sending telemetry directly with Alloy, OpenTelemetry, or SDKs, which is the manual version of the same idea: either way, your data ends up stored in Grafana Cloud.

Key insight:

  • A data source queries your data where it lives and leaves collection, dashboards, and alerts mostly to you Supported data sources can even back Grafana Cloud features like service level objectives (SLOs).
  • An integration brings your data into Grafana Cloud and manages collection plus prebuilt dashboards and alerts for you.

When to use which

Reach for a data source when:

  • You already have monitoring infrastructure you don’t want to migrate.
  • Data sovereignty requires your data to stay in your own systems.
  • You want to query and visualize data from tools you already run.

Choose an integration when:

  • You’re fine sending your data to Grafana Cloud to be stored there.
  • You want a managed setup with prebuilt dashboards and alerts.

Script

In Grafana Cloud, you’ll come across both data sources and integrations, sometimes with similar names. They sound alike, but they work differently, and the difference comes down to where your data lives.

A data source connects to your data where it already lives. There’s no migration and no new storage: Grafana queries your data in place, and you can visualize and alert on it. You set up collection and build most dashboards and alerts yourself, though some data sources include prebuilt dashboards. That’s the focus of this journey.

An integration is different. It installs a managed collector that sends your data into Grafana Cloud storage, and it comes with prebuilt dashboards and alerts. Integrations are one of two ways to send data to Grafana Cloud; sending telemetry directly with Alloy, OpenTelemetry, or SDKs is the manual version of the same idea.

So when should you use a data source? When you already have monitoring infrastructure you don’t want to migrate, when your data needs to stay in your own systems, or when you want to query and visualize data from tools you already run. Reach for an integration when you want a managed setup and you’re fine sending your data to Grafana Cloud.

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