See Every Second of Your Proxmox Infrastructure

Netdata complements and extends Proxmox monitoring. While Proxmox provides basic resource graphs, Netdata delivers comprehensive infrastructure observability: per-second metrics, ML anomaly detection, automated dashboards, 400+ pre-configured alerts, logs integration, and AI troubleshooting. For Proxmox-specific cluster metrics (quorum, HA status), install the Proxmox VE Exporter alongside Netdata - 15-minute setup for complete coverage.

Under 5 minutes for complete monitoring. Run one command on each Proxmox node: wget -O /tmp/netdata-kickstart.sh https://get.netdata.cloud/kickstart.sh && sh /tmp/netdata-kickstart.sh. Netdata auto-discovers all resources (VMs, containers, storage, network) and generates dashboards automatically. No configuration files, no manual setup, no dashboard building required.

Per-second monitoring reveals what per-minute monitoring hides. A 3-second CPU spike to 100% appears as a harmless 5% average in minute-based monitoring. Netdata’s per-second granularity catches transient issues, microbursts, and cascading failures that traditional monitoring completely misses. This is critical for Proxmox where VM resource contention and storage I/O spikes happen in seconds, not minutes.

Netdata trains 18 unsupervised k-means models per metric using different time windows. An anomaly is flagged only when ALL 18 models agree - achieving 99% false positive reduction in anomaly detection (theoretical rate: 10^-36). Models retrain every 3 hours, adapting to workload changes automatically. No manual threshold tuning, no configuration - ML works for all metrics from day one. Note: ML anomaly detection is a separate signal for identifying unusual patterns, independent from Netdata’s alert system.

Yes, via the Proxmox VE Exporter. Install the exporter (15 minutes), configure Netdata’s Prometheus collector to scrape it, and you’ll have cluster quorum status, node votes, HA events, and VM/container metadata. This complements Netdata’s native infrastructure monitoring (CPU, memory, disk, network, storage, hardware).

Netdata is faster, simpler, and more complete. Setup: <5 minutes vs 2-4 hours. Dashboards: Automatic vs manual building. Cluster metrics: Works (via exporter) vs Bug #3252 (missing). Graph reliability: Never fails vs Bug #4130 (RRD blocks). ML anomaly detection: Built-in vs not available. Pre-configured alerts: 400+ vs none. Query language: None required vs InfluxQL. Both are free, but Netdata delivers enterprise-grade observability without the complexity.

Netdata provides better performance and simpler operation. Granularity: Per-second vs 10-30 seconds (10-30× more detail). Setup: Zero-config vs YAML/PromQL/Docker complexity. Dashboards: Automatic vs manual. ML: Built-in vs not available. Storage: 0.6 bytes/sample vs ~2 bytes/sample (3× more efficient). Exporter issues: Native collectors vs GitHub issues #300, #360. Learning curve: None vs steep (PromQL). Netdata is ideal for faster deployment and easier operation.

Yes, natively. Netdata’s Ceph collector auto-discovers Ceph clusters and monitors: cluster status, OSD health, placement group states, capacity utilization, I/O performance, slow operations (>30s threshold), and per-pool/per-OSD statistics. Pre-configured alerts warn at 85% capacity, critical at 95%. No external exporters needed - works out-of-box with Proxmox hyper-converged deployments.

Netdata queries systemd-journal logs directly - no pipelines, no Elasticsearch, no Logstash. Full-text search, field filtering, and correlation with metrics from the same source. This eliminates 90% of traditional log management costs while providing 200× query accuracy (analyzes 1M entries before sampling vs 5K for traditional tools). For Proxmox Backup Server logs, use systemd-journal integration or combine with Pulse for native PBS monitoring.

Minimal: <5% CPU and 150-200MB RAM per node with full features (ML, alerts, retention). For production nodes, use ‘child mode’ streaming to Parents: <2% CPU, <100MB RAM, zero disk I/O. The University of Amsterdam study confirmed Netdata is the most energy-efficient monitoring solution - even while collecting per-second data and running ML at the edge.

Simple per-node pricing with predictable costs. Community (personal use only): Free for 5 nodes. Homelab (personal use only): Unlimited nodes, annual pricing. Business: Predictable per-node pricing with volume discounts for annual commitments. All plans include unlimited metrics, unlimited users, unlimited retention - no per-metric charges, no per-GB fees, no surprise bills. 90% cost reduction versus commercial APM. See pricing details.

Yes. Netdata provides a native Grafana datasource plugin. Query Netdata from Grafana dashboards while preserving per-second granularity. However, most users find Netdata’s automated dashboards superior - each Netdata chart equals 20+ Grafana charts with built-in anomaly detection, correlations, and drill-down capabilities. No PromQL required, no manual dashboard building.

Partially. Netdata monitors PBS infrastructure (CPU, memory, disk, network) and can parse PBS logs via systemd-journal integration. For native PBS backup job monitoring, consider combining Netdata (infrastructure) with Pulse (Proxmox-specific features). Alternatively, configure custom alerts based on PBS log patterns in Netdata’s journal viewer.

Linearly. Netdata’s edge-native architecture processes data locally on each node - adding nodes doesn’t affect existing performance. For 20+ nodes, deploy centralized Parents: lightweight Children (RAM mode, <2% CPU, <100MB RAM) stream to Parents (full retention, ML, alerts). Parents cluster for high availability. Proven at 100,000+ node deployments processing 4.5 billion metrics/second globally. See scalability details.

Multiple support options: Community (free): Discord, GitHub Discussions, Forums. Documentation: learn.netdata.cloud. Business support: Email/ticket support with SLA. Enterprise: 24/7 support, dedicated team, phone support. Professional services: Implementation assistance, architecture design, training. See support options.

Yes. Netdata Functions provide browser-based access to console tools with history: Processes (top/htop), Network Connections (netstat/ss), Systemd Services (systemd-cgtop), Disk I/O (iostat), Mount Points (df). All with per-second precision, ML anomaly detection, and correlation with metrics. True console replacement - debug production without SSH access.

Yes. Netdata is SOC 2 Type 2 certified and designed for compliance: Data sovereignty (all metrics stay on-premises), Audit logs (comprehensive activity tracking), RBAC (role-based access control), SSO (LDAP/AD, Okta, OIDC), Encryption (TLS everywhere), Retention (configurable, meets 1+ year requirements). On-premises deployment option for air-gapped environments. See security design.

Netdata’s AI Co-Engineer analyzes your infrastructure using live anomaly data and metric histories. Ask questions in plain English: ‘Why is disk I/O spiking?’ Get instant answers with context, root cause analysis, and recommended actions. Anomaly Advisor correlates issues across thousands of metrics, surfacing the top 30-50 relevant ones. Reduces MTTR by 80%. Works via Netdata Cloud (managed LLM) or bring your own LLM via Model Context Protocol (MCP). See AI features.

Same software, different roles. Agents: Installed on monitored nodes, collect metrics, run ML, evaluate alerts, serve local dashboards. Parents: Aggregate data from multiple Agents, provide centralized retention, offload ML/alerts from production systems, serve multi-node dashboards. For small clusters (1-5 nodes), use standalone Agents. For large clusters (20+ nodes), use lightweight Children streaming to centralized Parents. See deployment strategies.

Yes. Free Community plan: 5 nodes, full features (personal use only). 14-day Business trial: Unlimited nodes, no restrictions. Live demo: app.netdata.cloud/spaces/netdata-demo. Open source: Install on-premises, use forever free. No credit card required for trial. See pricing or start free trial.