Company
Date Published
Author
Paul Gottschling
Word count
3174
Language
English
Hacker News points
None

Summary

OOM errors on Linux systems occur when the kernel can't provide enough memory to run all user-space processes, causing at least one process to exit without warning. Without a comprehensive monitoring solution, OOM errors can be tricky to diagnose. Datadog provides a way to diagnose and analyze OOM errors by collecting and parsing OOM logs, as well as providing automated alerts and notifications when low-memory conditions are detected. The platform allows users to track key memory metrics, identify potential causes of high memory utilization, and set up alerts to notify teams before OOM errors occur. By using Datadog's OOM kill check, users can get direct insights into kernel OOM errors, including the number of errors that have taken place in a particular interval, as well as detailed information on how much memory different processes were using at the time of the error. This enables users to identify which parts of their system are running low on memory and why OOM errors may be occurring, allowing them to take proactive steps to prevent application downtime.