Configure collection of telemetry by using Azure various services

Enable end-to-end monitoring and diagnostics across your Azure resources. This guide covers how to set up telemetry collection using:

Application Insights
VM Insights
Container Insights
Storage Insights
Network Insights

These services, powered by Azure Monitor, help you maximize performance, reliability, and cost efficiency.

Overview of Azure Insights Services

Service	Monitored Resource	Key Outcome
Application Insights	Live applications	App performance, user analytics, alerts
VM Insights	Virtual Machines	OS metrics, dependency maps
Container Insights	Kubernetes clusters	Pod/node health, resource usage
Storage Insights	Storage accounts	Throughput, capacity planning
Network Insights	Networking components	Topology, traffic analysis, alerts

Warning

Enabling advanced telemetry features may increase data ingestion costs. Review Azure Monitor pricing and set up budget alerts to control expenses.

Application Insights

Monitor application performance, detect anomalies, and analyze user behavior with Application Insights.

The image is an introduction to Application Insights, highlighting its role as an Application Performance Management (APM) service for developers and DevOps professionals, with features like monitoring app performance, detecting performance issues, and understanding user interactions.

Key Features

Request rates & response time monitoring
Dependency tracking for service maps
Exception logging & crash analysis
User behavior analytics

The image lists key features of Application Insights, including application monitoring, request rates, response times, dependency tracking, exception logging, and user analytics.

Benefits

In-depth visibility into performance bottlenecks
Proactive alerts to minimize downtime
Direct integration with CI/CD pipelines

The image outlines the benefits of Application Insights, highlighting insights into app performance, identifying bottlenecks, proactive monitoring, and integration with development tools.

Setup Steps

In the Azure portal, create a new Application Insights resource.
Choose your application stack (ASP.NET, Java, Node.js, etc.).
Install the SDK (NuGet, Maven, npm) and initialize in code.
(Optional) Enable agent-based data collection for VMs or App Services.
View telemetry on charts, maps, and logs in the portal.

The image shows a configuration screen for setting up Application Insights, detailing project, instance, and workspace details. It also includes a section labeled "Code integration methods."

VM Insights

Gain deep operational insights into your Azure Virtual Machines by tracking performance and dependencies.

The image shows a screenshot of the Azure portal with instructions for configuring VM Insights, highlighting the "Enable" button for monitoring.

Key Features

CPU, memory, disk, and network metrics
Dependency mapping between VMs and services
Guest OS-level monitoring
Full integration with Log Analytics

Benefits

Early detection of resource bottlenecks
Correlate VM metrics with application events
Centralized log and metric storage

Setup Steps

Open your VM in the Azure portal.
Select Insights > Enable.
Install required monitoring extensions.
Link to a Log Analytics workspace.
Analyze metrics and dependency maps in the portal.

Container Insights

Monitor container workloads on AKS or other Kubernetes clusters, from pods to nodes.

The image shows a dashboard for configuring container insights, displaying performance metrics and logs such as CPU and memory utilization, node count, and active pod count. It includes a section labeled "Accessing performance metrics and logs."

Key Features

Container & cluster resource metrics
Log collection & container event analysis
Pod and node health monitoring
Integration with Azure Monitor

Benefits

Real-time visibility into container performance
Identify failing pods and resource constraints
Unified monitoring across VMs, containers, and applications

Setup Steps

In the Azure portal, go to your Kubernetes cluster.
Click Insights > Enable.
Install the Log Analytics agent as prompted.
Explore CPU, memory, node health, and logs in the portal.

Storage Insights

Diagnose and optimize Azure Storage account performance with detailed metrics and logs.

The image is an infographic titled "Storage Insights – Benefits," highlighting four benefits: insights into storage performance, optimization of storage usage, proactive monitoring, and integration with Azure services.

Key Features

Throughput, latency, and capacity metrics
Access pattern and trend analysis
Capacity planning recommendations
Diagnostic logging (read/write/error logs)

Benefits

Optimize storage performance and costs
Predict growth and scale proactively
Integrate with alerts and dashboards

Setup Steps

Select your Storage Account in the Azure portal.
Navigate to Insights > Enable.
Configure diagnostic settings to a Log Analytics workspace.
View throughput, latency, capacity, and transaction logs.

The image shows a screenshot of a storage insights dashboard with performance metrics and logs, including graphs and statistics on transactions and latency. It is titled "Configuring Storage Insights" and includes a sidebar menu for navigation.

Network Insights

Visualize and troubleshoot your network topology, traffic patterns, and health in real time.

The image outlines key features of network monitoring, including performance metrics, network topology, traffic analysis, and diagnostic logs. Each feature is represented with an icon and a colored background.

Key Features

Throughput, latency & packet loss metrics
Dynamic network topology maps
Traffic flow and security analysis
Diagnostic logs for troubleshooting

The image outlines the benefits of network monitoring, including insights into network performance, optimization and connectivity fixes, proactive monitoring with real-time alerts, and integration with Azure services.

Benefits

End-to-end visibility into network health
Rapid isolation of connectivity issues
Real-time alerts and proactive monitoring
Seamless integration with Azure Monitor

Setup Steps

In the Azure portal, select a network resource (e.g., NIC, NSG).
Click Insights > Enable under Monitoring.
Configure diagnostic settings to forward logs and metrics.
Link to a Log Analytics workspace.
Analyze throughput, latency, and packet-loss charts.

The image shows a screenshot of the Azure portal interface for configuring network monitoring, highlighting the "Insights" option under the Monitoring section. There's also a text box indicating "Enabling monitoring in the Azure portal."

The image shows a network monitoring configuration interface with a diagram of network connections and a sidebar menu for accessing various settings and metrics. It includes a label indicating access to performance metrics and logs.

The image shows a network monitoring dashboard with throughput stats and metric charts for packets sent and received. It includes a section labeled "Accessing performance metrics and logs."

By leveraging Application, VM, Container, Storage, and Network Insights, you’ll gain unified visibility across your Azure estate—detect issues faster, optimize performance, and manage costs effectively.

Links and References

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