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+<!--
+title: "How Netdata's metrics collectors work"
+description: "When Netdata starts, and with zero configuration, it auto-detects thousands of data sources and immediately collects per-second metrics."
+custom_edit_url: https://github.com/netdata/netdata/edit/master/docs/collect/how-collectors-work.md
+-->
+
+# How Netdata's metrics collectors work
+
+When Netdata starts, and with zero configuration, it auto-detects thousands of data sources and immediately collects
+per-second metrics.
+
+Netdata can immediately collect metrics from these endpoints thanks to 300+ **collectors**, which all come pre-installed
+when you [install Netdata](/docs/get-started.mdx).
+
+Every collector has two primary jobs:
+
+- Look for exposed metrics at a pre- or user-defined endpoint.
+- Gather exposed metrics and use additional logic to build meaningful, interactive visualizations.
+
+If the collector finds compatible metrics exposed on the configured endpoint, it begins a per-second collection job. The
+Netdata Agent gathers these metrics, sends them to the [database engine for
+storage](/docs/store/change-metrics-storage.md), and immediately [visualizes them
+meaningfully](/docs/visualize/interact-dashboards-charts.md) on dashboards.
+
+Each collector comes with a pre-defined configuration that matches the default setup for that application. This endpoint
+can be a URL and port, a socket, a file, a web page, and more.
+
+For example, the [Nginx collector](https://learn.netdata.cloud/docs/agent/collectors/go.d.plugin/modules/nginx) searches
+at `http://127.0.0.1/stub_status`, which is the default endpoint for exposing Nginx metrics. The [web log collector for
+Nginx or Apache](https://learn.netdata.cloud/docs/agent/collectors/go.d.plugin/modules/weblog) searches at
+`/var/log/nginx/access.log` and `/var/log/apache2/access.log`, respectively, both of which are standard locations for
+access log files on Linux systems.
+
+The endpoint is user-configurable, as are many other specifics of what a given collector does.
+
+## What can Netdata collect?
+
+To quickly find your answer, see our [list of supported collectors](/collectors/COLLECTORS.md).
+
+Generally, Netdata's collectors can be grouped into three types:
+
+- [Systems](/docs/collect/system-metrics.md): Monitor CPU, memory, disk, networking, systemd, eBPF, and much more.
+ Every metric exposed by `/proc`, `/sys`, and other Linux kernel sources.
+- [Containers](/docs/collect/container-metrics.md): Gather metrics from container agents, like `dockerd` or `kubectl`,
+ along with the resource usage of containers and the applications they run.
+- [Applications](/docs/collect/application-metrics.md): Collect per-second metrics from web servers, databases, logs,
+ message brokers, APM tools, email servers, and much more.
+
+## Collector architecture and terminology
+
+**Collector** is a catch-all term for any Netdata process that gathers metrics from an endpoint.
+
+While we use _collector_ most often in documentation, release notes, and educational content, you may encounter other
+terms related to collecting metrics.
+
+- **Modules** are a type of collector.
+- **Orchestrators** are external plugins that run and manage one or more modules. They run as independent processes.
+ The Go orchestrator is in active development.
+ - [go.d.plugin](https://learn.netdata.cloud/docs/agent/collectors/go.d.plugin/): An orchestrator for data
+ collection modules written in `go`.
+ - [python.d.plugin](/collectors/python.d.plugin/README.md): An orchestrator for data collection modules written in
+ `python` v2/v3.
+ - [charts.d.plugin](/collectors/charts.d.plugin/README.md): An orchestrator for data collection modules written in
+ `bash` v4+.
+- **External plugins** gather metrics from external processes, such as a webserver or database, and run as independent
+ processes that communicate with the Netdata daemon via pipes.
+- **Internal plugins** gather metrics from `/proc`, `/sys`, and other Linux kernel sources. They are written in `C`,
+ and run as threads within the Netdata daemon.
+
+## What's next?
+
+[Enable or configure a collector](/docs/collect/enable-configure.md) if the default settings are not compatible with
+your infrastructure.
+
+See our [collectors reference](/collectors/REFERENCE.md) for detailed information on Netdata's collector architecture,
+troubleshooting a collector, developing a custom collector, and more.
+
+