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diff --git a/collectors/README.md b/collectors/README.md deleted file mode 100644 index 7676ff866..000000000 --- a/collectors/README.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,62 +0,0 @@ -# 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/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/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/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/go.d.plugin/blob/master/README.md): An orchestrator for data - collection modules written in `go`. - - - [python.d.plugin](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/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/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. |