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Section 2 · Set up Database Observability

Capabilities and features of Grafana Cloud Database Observability

Estimated time: 2 min

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 monitoringDatabase Observability
Queries per second (aggregate)Which specific queries are slow and why
CPU and memory usageExplain 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