Merging upstream version 1.45.3+dfsg.

Signed-off-by: Daniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org>

1 files changed, 62 insertions, 0 deletions

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+# Collectors
+
+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](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/packaging/installer/README.md).
+
+All collectors are **installed by default** with every installation of Netdata. You do not need to install
+collectors manually to collect metrics from new sources. 
+See how you can [monitor anything with Netdata](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/src/collectors/COLLECTORS.md).
+
+Upon startup, Netdata will **auto-detect** any application or service that has a collector, as long as both the collector
+and the app/service are configured correctly. If you don't see charts for your application, see
+our [collectors' configuration reference](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/src/collectors/REFERENCE.md).
+
+## How Netdata's metrics collectors work
+
+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](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/store/change-metrics-storage.md)
+, and immediately 
+[visualizes them meaningfully](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/cloud/visualize/interact-new-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. The endpoint is user-configurable, as are many other 
+specifics of what a given collector does.
+
+## Collector architecture and terminology
+
+-   **Collectors** are the processes/programs that actually gather metrics from various sources. 
+
+-   **Plugins** help manage all the independent data collection processes in a variety of programming languages, based on 
+    their purpose  and performance requirements. There are three types of plugins:
+
+    -   **Internal** plugins organize collectors that gather metrics from `/proc`, `/sys` and other Linux kernel sources.
+        They are written in `C`, and run as threads within the Netdata daemon.
+
+    -   **External** plugins organize collectors that gather metrics from external processes, such as a MySQL database or
+        Nginx web server. They can be written in any language, and the `netdata` daemon spawns them as long-running
+        independent processes. They communicate with the daemon via pipes. All external plugins are managed by
+        [plugins.d](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/src/collectors/plugins.d/README.md), which provides additional management options.
+
+-   **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://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/src/go/collectors/go.d.plugin/README.md): An orchestrator for data
+        collection modules written in `go`.
+
+    -   [python.d.plugin](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/src/collectors/python.d.plugin/README.md): 
+        An orchestrator for data collection modules written in `python` v2/v3.
+
+    -   [charts.d.plugin](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/src/collectors/charts.d.plugin/README.md): 
+        An orchestrator for data collection modules written in`bash` v4+.
+
+-   **Modules** are the individual programs controlled by an orchestrator to collect data from a specific application, or type of endpoint.