It's the monitoring base for everything. We have dashboards for monitoring, logs and log analytics for monitoring, flow logs to monitor subnets and the network side, as well as a path analyzer and network visualizer. We use all of these features.
Offers real-time alerting and dashboards are great for performance hubs of the database
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
We use the dashboards a lot. Moreover, real-time alerting is a very important feature. We need alerts for everything. We have alarms setup and get alerts through email or third-party integrations depending on what's happening – critical VMs, high CPU usage, security concerns.
What is most valuable?
For monitoring, logs are the best feature we use frequently. The dashboards are great for performance hubs of the database – if anything is slowing down or needs to be recovered, we'll see it in the monitor issues for the database. It's very easy to monitor using the dashboards.
Every time we provision resources, we enable monitoring so we have regular checks.
What needs improvement?
It's primarily for CPU utilization and resource monitoring. Vulnerability scanning falls under OCI Cloud Guard, so it's related to security concerns. Some people might prefer using a third-party tool for more enhanced features. However, I think Oracle Infrastructure Monitoring Cloud Service could be improved to reduce the need for third-party connectivity.
So overall, third-party connectivity is the part that needs improvement within Oracle Infrastructure Monitoring Cloud Service.
OCI needs more research and development to understand why clients choose third-party tools like Splunk or QRadar over internal monitoring solutions. There must be some areas where third-party tools are better. OCI could analyze this and improve its service.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have around one or two years of experience with this product.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability a ten out of ten. But there is always room for improvement.
Internally, the monitoring I use is good. But, the fact that people seek out third-party connectivity tools suggests there are areas where those tools are superior. If Oracle's solution was perfect, there wouldn't be a need for third-party tools. So, while it's good now, it could be even better.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate the scalability a ten out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
The support is good, but the response time can be slow. Sometimes, it takes time to get a resolution, so it is too late. This is where it lags.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
It's very easy to deploy. It takes less than 10 minutes.
Moreover, it's easy to maintain because the alerting system keeps you updated. You'll know if things are going wrong, so maintenance is easy.
Number of resources required for maintenance depends on the extent of your monitoring. If you're monitoring the database (like an ATP or autonomous database), VMs, and all network resources, you'd likely need a team to handle it. If you're monitoring fewer things, you need fewer people.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
For monitoring specifically, it's not that expensive. The licensing is yearly basis. However, there are monthly licensing options available as well.
What other advice do I have?
It's a good tool. Not bad at all. I'd rate it a nine out of ten.
It's important to remember that monitoring is not just about monitoring. It's also part of security. It gives you a complete picture of who is changing, what when changes are made, what resources are created or deleted, and more. It provides details about who is handling what on your platform, so it's very important.
