The Wavefront AWS Lambda Functions integration includes:
- Setup instructions
- Information about standard metrics that the integration includes
- Links to instructions for collecting custom business metrics
On this page, we give some background and details not available on the integration page.
Wavefront and AWS Lambda
AWS Lambda is ideal for situations when you want to run a function in response to an event. Use cases include generating thumbnails whenever users upload images to a website or similar scenarios. You define the function in one of the languages that AWS Lambda supports, and the function runs whenever a triggering event occurs. This model is called Function-as-a-Service or serverless.
While it’s convenient to stop worrying about function execution, you might want to monitor the function. Wavefront offers these choices to monitor your AWS Lambda function:
- Use the Wavefront Amazon CloudWatch integration. Using the CloudWatch integration allows access to the full set of standard metrics, but polling CloudWatch and send the data to Wavefront introduces some lag.
- Use the Wavefront AWS Lambda Functions integration. The integration collects standard metrics available through the public API. It also allows you to monitor business metrics by using a wrapper in Python, Go, or Node.js.
How to Use Wavefront to Monitor AWS Lambda
To support monitoring serverless environments, Wavefront has added a new type of metric called delta counter. With delta counters, Wavefront performs server-side aggregation – that eliminates metric point collisions during bursty traffic. See our blog Monitoring Apps in the Serverless World
The Wavefront AWS Lambda Function integration and the SDKs listed above make it easy to collect standard metrics and custom metrics.
| Use Case | Description |
|---|---|
| AWS Lambda standard metrics | We collect AWS Lambda standard metrics for you. You can see these metrics in the integration’s dashboard, and use them in queries and alerts. Some metrics are counters, others are delta counters. |
| AWS Lambda custom business metrics | The AWS Lambda Functions integration includes pointers to instructions for using Python, Go, or Node.js to retrieve business metrics for your Lambda function. |