---
title: "What Database Observability provides | Grafana Labs"
description: "Capabilities and features of Grafana Cloud Database Observability"
---

> For a curated documentation index, see [llms.txt](/llms.txt). For the complete documentation index, see [llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt).

# Beyond basic metrics

Traditional database monitoring tells you *something* is wrong. Database Observability tells you *why*. It surfaces query-level performance data (RED metrics, explain plans, query samples, wait events, and schema details) all inside Grafana Cloud.

| Basic monitoring               | Database Observability                           |
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|
| Queries per second (aggregate) | Which specific queries are slow and why          |
| CPU and memory usage           | Explain plans and wait events at the query level |

## What you can see

Database Observability gives you query-level visibility. It captures RED metrics (rate, errors, and duration) for tracked queries, so you can tell which ones are slow. Explain plans are available for `SELECT` queries. Write statements such as `INSERT`, `UPDATE`, and `DELETE` cannot be explained.

You can open a query to investigate it, and also get the signals that explain its performance:

- **Query samples:** individual executions with timing. Parameters are redacted by default.
- **Explain plans:** how the database executes a query, with cost-coded nodes highlighting expensive operations
- **Wait events:** where a query spends time waiting for locks, I/O, or other resources instead of executing
- **Table schemas:** table structures, indexes, and constraints that may reveal missing indexes

## Managed database support

Database Observability works with the following self-managed databases and managed cloud services:

- Self-managed MySQL and PostgreSQL
- Amazon RDS (MySQL and PostgreSQL)
- Amazon Aurora (MySQL and PostgreSQL)
- Google Cloud SQL (MySQL and PostgreSQL)
- Azure Database for MySQL and PostgreSQL