Why observability requires high-cardinality data

Monitoring and observability are often used interchangeably, but they serve distinct purposes in managing complex systems. Observability is about having the flexibility to ask why, providing a deeper understanding of issues beyond just identifying problems. High-cardinality data is essential for isolating root causes, allowing users to investigate individual transactions and analyze attribute distributions. Most monitoring tools struggle with high-cardinality data due to scalability limitations, leading to reduced storage duration, sampled or aggregated data, and punitive costs. New Relic's platform is designed to handle high-cardinality data, providing a powerful telemetry data platform that empowers users to ask any question of their data in real-time, combining metrics, events, logs, and traces in a unified platform.