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+<!--
+title: "Collect system metrics with Netdata"
+sidebar_label: "System metrics"
+description: "Netdata collects thousands of metrics from physical and virtual systems, IoT/edge devices, and containers with zero configuration."
+custom_edit_url: "https://github.com/netdata/netdata/edit/master/docs/collect/system-metrics.md"
+learn_status: "Published"
+learn_topic_type: "Concepts"
+learn_rel_path: "Concepts"
+-->
+
+# Collect system metrics with Netdata
+
+Netdata collects thousands of metrics directly from the operating systems of physical and virtual systems, IoT/edge
+devices, and [containers](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/collect/container-metrics.md) with zero configuration.
+
+To gather system metrics, Netdata uses roughly a dozen plugins, each of which has one or more collectors for very
+specific metrics exposed by the host. The system metrics Netdata users interact with most for health monitoring and
+performance troubleshooting are collected and visualized by `proc.plugin`, `cgroups.plugin`, and `ebpf.plugin`.
+
+[**proc.plugin**](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/collectors/proc.plugin/README.md) gathers metrics from the `/proc` and `/sys` folders in Linux
+systems, along with a few other endpoints, and is responsible for the bulk of the system metrics collected and
+visualized by Netdata. It collects CPU, memory, disks, load, networking, mount points, and more with zero configuration.
+It even allows Netdata to monitor its own resource utilization!
+
+[**cgroups.plugin**](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/collectors/cgroups.plugin/README.md) collects rich metrics about containers and virtual machines
+using the virtual files under `/sys/fs/cgroup`. By reading cgroups, Netdata can instantly collect resource utilization
+metrics for systemd services, all containers (Docker, LXC, LXD, Libvirt, systemd-nspawn), and more. Learn more in the
+[collecting container metrics](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/collect/container-metrics.md) doc.
+
+[**ebpf.plugin**](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/collectors/ebpf.plugin/README.md): Netdata's extended Berkeley Packet Filter (eBPF) collector
+monitors Linux kernel-level metrics for file descriptors, virtual filesystem IO, and process management. You can use our
+eBPF collector to analyze how and when a process accesses files, when it makes system calls, whether it leaks memory or
+creating zombie processes, and more.
+
+While the above plugins and associated collectors are the most important for system metrics, there are many others. You
+can find all system collectors in our [supported collectors list](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/collectors/COLLECTORS.md#system-collectors).
+
+## Collect Windows system metrics
+
+Netdata is also capable of monitoring Windows systems. The [Windows
+collector](https://github.com/netdata/go.d.plugin/blob/master/modules/windows/README.md) integrates with
+[windows_exporter](https://github.com/prometheus-community/windows_exporter), a small Go-based binary that you can run
+on Windows systems. The Windows collector then gathers metrics from an endpoint created by windows_exporter, for more
+details see [the requirements](https://github.com/netdata/go.d.plugin/blob/master/modules/windows/README.md#requirements).
+
+Next, [configure](https://github.com/netdata/go.d.plugin/blob/master/modules/windows/README.md#configuration) the Windows
+collector to point to the URL and port of your exposed endpoint. Restart Netdata with `sudo systemctl restart netdata`, or the [appropriate
+method](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/configure/start-stop-restart.md) for your system. You'll start seeing Windows system metrics, such as CPU
+utilization, memory, bandwidth per NIC, number of processes, and much more.
+
+For information about collecting metrics from applications _running on Windows systems_, see the [application metrics
+doc](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/collect/application-metrics.md#collect-metrics-from-applications-running-on-windows).
+
+## What's next?
+
+Because there's some overlap between system metrics and [container metrics](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/collect/container-metrics.md), you
+should investigate Netdata's container compatibility if you use them heavily in your infrastructure.
+
+If you don't use containers, skip ahead to collecting [application metrics](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/collect/application-metrics.md) with
+Netdata.
+
+