When to query InfluxDB directly
InfluxDB is a purpose-built time series database designed for high-throughput writes and fast queries over timestamped data. Many teams already run InfluxDB to store infrastructure metrics, IoT sensor readings, application telemetry, and business analytics.
The InfluxDB data source in Grafana lets you query your existing InfluxDB instance directly — your data stays where it is while Grafana provides the visualization and alerting layer on top.
Query languages
The Grafana InfluxDB data source supports three query languages:
- Flux — A functional data scripting language for InfluxDB 2.x. InfluxData has announced that Flux is being deprecated in favor of SQL.
- InfluxQL — A SQL-like query language supported across most InfluxDB versions.
- SQL — Native SQL available starting with InfluxDB 3.x. This is the recommended query language for new InfluxDB deployments.
The available query languages depend on your InfluxDB product and version. Refer to Configure the InfluxDB data source for the full compatibility table.
When to query InfluxDB directly
Querying InfluxDB directly is the right choice when:
- You already have data in InfluxDB and don’t want to duplicate it into another store
- You need InfluxDB’s native query capabilities like windowing functions, downsampling, or cross-measurement joins
- Your InfluxDB instance is accessible from Grafana Cloud (directly or via Private Data Source Connect)
- You want a unified view that combines InfluxDB data with other data sources in a single dashboard
When to consider alternatives
If you’re starting fresh and need long-term metric storage in Grafana Cloud, consider sending metrics via Prometheus remote write to Grafana Cloud Metrics instead. This stores data natively in Grafana Cloud and avoids dependency on an external InfluxDB instance.
In the next milestone, you’ll verify that your InfluxDB instance is running and gather the credentials needed to connect.