Database Observability on Grafana Labs

Database Observability

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:47:35 -0500

Database Observability

What you learned in the intro module

Where database monitoring fits in the observability stack
The two approaches: Database Observability and database integrations
How to choose the right approach for your database technology

What you’ll do in this module:

What it provides — Query-level performance, explain plans, wait events, and managed database support
How it works — The architecture that powers deep database visibility
MySQL setup — Deploy Alloy and configure Database Observability for MySQL
PostgreSQL setup — Deploy Alloy and configure Database Observability for PostgreSQL

Estimated time

10–15 minutes (concept slides) + 30–60 minutes (hands-on learning path)

What Database Observability provides

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:47:35 -0500

Beyond basic metrics

Traditional database monitoring tells you that something is wrong. Database Observability tells you why.

Basic monitoring (integrations)	Database Observability
Queries per second (aggregate)	Which specific queries are slow and why
Connection count	Which connections consume the most resources
Replication status (up/down)	How far behind a replica is and what’s causing lag
CPU and memory usage	Which queries drive resource consumption

What you see in the dashboards

Queries Overview is your starting point. It shows RED metrics (rate, errors, duration) for every query, so you can sort by duration and immediately find the slowest queries.

From there, you can drill into any query to explore:

Query samples — Individual executions with timing and parameters
Explain plans — Visual representation of how the database executes each query, with cost-coded nodes highlighting expensive operations
Wait events — Where queries spend time waiting for locks, I/O, or other resources instead of executing
Table schemas — Table structures, indexes, and constraints that may reveal missing indexes
AI-powered suggestions — Optimization recommendations based on query patterns

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

For cloud-managed databases, an infrastructure metrics panel surfaces CPU utilization, memory usage, IOPS, and network throughput alongside your query data.

How Database Observability works

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:47:35 -0500

Architecture

How data flows

Database Observability uses Grafana Alloy to collect two types of telemetry from your databases:

Signal	What it captures	Where it’s stored
Metrics	Query counts, latency, errors, rows affected, resource usage	Grafana Cloud Mimir (Prometheus)
Logs	Query samples, explain plans, schema details, wait events	Grafana Cloud Loki

Collection sources

The data comes from built-in database statistics, not from intercepting queries:

PostgreSQL uses pg_stat_statements for aggregate query statistics and pg_stat_activity for active session information. The pg_stat_statements extension must be installed and enabled.
MySQL uses Performance Schema, which is enabled by default in MySQL 8.0+. Query samples are captured from running queries in the performance schema tables.

What Grafana Alloy does

Grafana Alloy runs alongside your database and handles collection:

Database exporters scrape aggregate metrics from pg_stat_statements or Performance Schema and forward them to Grafana Cloud Mimir.
Database Observability components query your database for detailed information (query samples, explain plans, schema details) and forward structured logs to Grafana Cloud Loki.
Purpose-built dashboards in Grafana Cloud correlate these metrics and logs into a unified view of query performance.

Explain plans run EXPLAIN (not EXPLAIN ANALYZE) on sampled queries, so they estimate costs using cached statistics without actually executing the query.

MySQL with Database Observability

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:47:35 -0500

MySQL with Database Observability

Database Observability gives you deep visibility into MySQL query performance, whether your database is self-managed or running on a managed cloud service.


What it monitors	Query performance, wait events, connections, replication, InnoDB health
How it works	Grafana Alloy reads from MySQL Performance Schema (enabled by default in 8.0+)
What you see	Top queries by duration, explain plans with cost highlighting, wait events, query samples
Supported variants	Self-managed MySQL 8.0+, Amazon RDS, Amazon Aurora, Google Cloud SQL, Azure Database

What you’ll get

Queries Overview dashboard showing RED metrics for every query
Explain plans revealing full table scans, missing indexes, and expensive joins
Wait events showing lock contention, I/O bottlenecks, and resource waits
Query samples with individual execution timing
Table schemas highlighting index coverage and constraints

Trade-offs

Strengths	Considerations
Deepest MySQL visibility available in Grafana Cloud	Requires MySQL 8.0+ (MariaDB not supported)
Query-level explain plans and wait events	Requires a monitoring user with specific privileges
Managed database support (RDS, Aurora, CloudSQL, Azure)	First-time setup takes 30-60 minutes
AI-powered optimization suggestions	Uses Grafana Alloy as collection agent

Learning path

MySQL Database Observability

Set up Grafana Cloud Database Observability for MySQL to monitor query performance, explain plans, wait events, and query samples.

13 min

Intermediate

Docs & blog posts

Open in Grafana Cloud

Complete this learning path directly in your Grafana Cloud stack, or in the Grafana Play stack, with an interactive learning experience.

Open in Grafana Cloud Try in Grafana Play

View on website

Path completed

PostgreSQL with Database Observability

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:47:35 -0500

PostgreSQL with Database Observability

Database Observability gives you deep visibility into PostgreSQL query performance, whether your database is self-managed or running on a managed cloud service.


What it monitors	Query performance, wait events, connections, replication lag, table bloat
How it works	Grafana Alloy reads from `pg_stat_statements` and `pg_stat_activity`
What you see	Top queries by duration, explain plans with cost highlighting, wait events, query samples
Supported variants	Self-managed PostgreSQL 14+, Amazon RDS, Amazon Aurora, Google Cloud SQL, Azure Database

What you’ll get

Queries Overview dashboard showing RED metrics for every query
Explain plans with visual graphs showing scan types, join strategies, and cost distribution
Wait events categorized by I/O, lock, and network waits from pg_stat_activity
Query samples with individual execution timing and parameters
Table schemas showing structures, indexes, and constraints

Trade-offs

Strengths	Considerations
Deepest PostgreSQL visibility available in Grafana Cloud	Requires PostgreSQL 14+
Visual explain plans with cost-coded operation nodes	`pg_stat_statements` extension must be installed (requires restart)
Wait events from `pg_stat_activity`	Requires a monitoring user with `pg_monitor` and `pg_read_all_stats` roles
Managed database support (RDS, Aurora, CloudSQL, Azure)	First-time setup takes 30-60 minutes
AI-powered optimization suggestions	Uses Grafana Alloy as collection agent

Learning path

PostgreSQL Database Observability

Set up Grafana Cloud Database Observability for PostgreSQL to monitor query performance, explain plans, wait events, and query samples.

13 min

Intermediate

Docs & blog posts

Open in Grafana Cloud

Complete this learning path directly in your Grafana Cloud stack, or in the Grafana Play stack, with an interactive learning experience.

Open in Grafana Cloud Try in Grafana Play

View on website

Path completed

Hands-on exercise summary

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:47:35 -0500

Hands-on exercise summary

What you accomplished:

Deployed Grafana Alloy with the Database Observability component
Configured your database connection with monitoring credentials
Verified that query-level data flows to Grafana Cloud
Explored the Queries Overview dashboard

Skills unlocked:

Skill	You can now…
Query visibility	Find the slowest queries across your databases
Explain plans	See how the database executes each query and where time is spent
Wait events	Identify lock contention, I/O bottlenecks, and resource waits
Query samples	Inspect individual query executions with timing

What’s next

Try another database — Go back to MySQL or PostgreSQL if you want to set up a second database
Continue to integrations — Learn how to monitor databases that aren’t supported by Database Observability
Browse the docs — Explore the Database Observability documentation for advanced configuration