January 2016 Summaries

Sysdig and its interactive command-line tool, csysdig, are explored in the context of monitoring system call performance within Docker containers using spectrograms, which visually represent system call latencies. The spectrograms enable users to spot patterns and anomalies by categorizing calls based on latency, with color indicating the volume of calls. Enhanced by csysdig, users can now make arbitrary selections and drill down into specific events, offering a more detailed exploration of system behavior. An example comparing disk writing using fwrite() and write() in C demonstrates how different choices in API can significantly affect application performance, highlighting the importance of measuring and visually analyzing system behavior. The article underscores the complexity of system performance and the role tools like Sysdig play in simplifying performance monitoring and troubleshooting.

Sysdig offers a solution for gaining deep application visibility in containerized environments without the need for plugins, making it distinct from traditional monitoring tools that often treat containers as opaque entities. By installing the Sysdig Cloud agent, users benefit from automatic service discovery that identifies software running across hosts, virtual machines, and containers, providing 100% visibility into applications. This is facilitated by Sysdig's Container Vision technology, which automatically detects services and presents key application metrics in preconfigured mini dashboards called Views. The latest release includes support for additional automatic service discovery and 23 new Views, covering various applications and services. This approach eliminates the need for complex configurations, enhances scalability, and allows for effective monitoring and troubleshooting with minimal effort, while also offering alerting capabilities to improve operational efficiency.

Sysdig has been enhancing its native monitoring and visibility support for Kubernetes, as highlighted by a recent presentation at KubeCon by Sysdig core contributor Gianluca Borello. The presentation, which attracted significant attention and applause, demonstrated an in-depth exploration of a Kubernetes environment using command line tools. Sysdig is also promoting Falco Feeds, which provides continuously updated, expert-written security rules to help open-source-focused companies manage new threats effectively. For those interested in maximizing their Kubernetes environment, Sysdig offers a 20-minute video and a free 14-day trial of Sysdig Cloud, which aims to simplify the monitoring of distributed Kubernetes deployments.