# rds-monitoring

Part of **RDS**

# ApsaraDB RDS Monitoring and Alerts Console Guide

## Operations Overview

| Operation | Console Navigation Path | Prerequisites | Description |
|----------|------------------------|---------------|-------------|
| Manage Alerts | Console > RDS > Instances > [Instance ID] > Monitoring and Alerts > Alerts | ApsaraDB RDS instance created; alert contact group configured | Create and manage alert rules using CloudMonitor for metric thresholds |
| Configure Monitoring Frequency | Console > RDS > Instances > Monitoring (Old Version) | Existing RDS for MySQL instance | Set data collection interval to 5s (paid), 60s, or 300s on legacy monitoring page |
| View Instance Metrics | Console > RDS > Instances > [Instance ID] > Monitoring and Alerts | None | Access real-time and historical resource utilization metrics (CPU, memory, disk, etc.) |
| Create Custom Monitoring Dashboard | Console > RDS > Performance Center > Monitoring Dashboard | Supported RDS MySQL edition (5.5–8.4 HA/Enterprise/Cluster) | Build multi-instance dashboards with customizable metrics and layouts |
| Enable Performance Insight | Console > RDS > Autonomous Service > Performance Insight | MySQL instance ≥8 GB RAM; not Basic Edition; supported region | Activate advanced SQL performance monitoring using Performance Schema |
| View Performance Trends | Console > RDS > Autonomy Services > Dashboard | None | Analyze historical performance data with diagnostic capabilities over 30-day window |
| Configure Event Alerting | Console > RDS > Autonomous Service > Diagnosis & Optimization > Self-Government Center | DAS enabled on RDS instance | Set up notifications for database events by severity level and delivery method |

## Step-by-Step Instructions

### Manage Alerts

**Navigation**: Console > RDS > Instances > [Instance ID] > Monitoring and Alerts > Alerts

**Prerequisites**:
- An ApsaraDB RDS instance must be created and running
- Access to the Alibaba Cloud console with appropriate permissions
- A valid alert contact group configured in CloudMonitor

1. Go to the **Instances** page and select the region where your instance is located, then click the instance ID  
   - Element: **Instances** (link) — top navigation bar

2. Click the **Monitoring and Alerts** section in the left-side navigation pane  
   - Element: **Monitoring and Alerts** (menu) — left navigation panel

3. Click the **Alerts** tab  
   - Element: **Alerts** (tab) — main content area

4. Turn on the **Initiative Alert** switch  
   - Element: **Initiative Alert** (toggle) — upper-right corner  
   - Notes: Enables automatic monitoring of key metrics like CPU, disk usage, and replication latency

5. Click the **Alert Rule Settings** button to open CloudMonitor console  
   - Element: **Alert Rule Settings** (button) — main content area  
   - Notes: Opens CloudMonitor where you can create or manage alert rules

6. On the Alert Rules page, find the target rule and select an action from the **Actions** column  
   - Element: **Actions** (column) — Alert Rules table  
   - Notes: Available actions include Details, Alert History, Modify, Disable, Enable, and Delete

### Configure Monitoring Frequency

**Navigation**: Console > RDS > Instances > Monitoring (Old Version)

**Prerequisites**:
- Access to the ApsaraDB RDS console
- An existing RDS for MySQL instance

1. Click the **monitoring page (old version)** link  
   - Element: **Monitoring page (old version)** (link) — right side of the page  
   - Notes: Monitoring frequency can only be set on the old version; new version uses fixed 5-second interval

2. Click the **Monitor Setting** button  
   - Element: **Monitor Setting** (button) — main content area  
   - Notes: A dialog appears showing available frequencies based on your instance type

| Parameter | Type | Required | Options/Values | Description |
|-----------|------|----------|----------------|-------------|
| Monitoring Frequency | dropdown | Yes | Every 5 seconds (paid), Every 60 seconds, Every 300 seconds | Selects how frequently the system collects performance metrics for the instance |

### View Instance Metrics

**Navigation**: Console > RDS > Instances > [Instance ID] > Monitoring and Alerts

**Prerequisites**:  
None

1. Log on to the **RDS console**  
   - Element: **RDS console** (link) — top navigation

2. Click **Instances** in the left navigation pane  
   - Element: **Instances** (menu) — left navigation panel

3. Select a region at the top of the page  
   - Element: Region selector (dropdown) — top of the page

4. Click the instance ID to go to the product page  
   - Element: Instance ID (link) — main content area

5. Click **Monitoring and Alerting** in the left navigation pane  
   - Element: **Monitoring and Alerting** (menu) — left navigation panel

6. Select a time range and monitoring frequency, then click **Search**  
   - Element: **Search** (button) — top-right corner

### Create Custom Monitoring Dashboard

**Navigation**: Console > RDS > Performance Center > Monitoring Dashboard

**Prerequisites**:
- ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL 8.4 High-availability Edition or Cluster Edition
- ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL 8.0 High-availability Edition, Enterprise Edition, or Cluster Edition
- ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL 5.7 High-availability Edition, Enterprise Edition, or Cluster Edition
- ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL 5.6 High-availability Edition
- ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL 5.5 High-availability Edition

1. Log on to the **ApsaraDB RDS console**  
   - Element: **ApsaraDB RDS console** (link) — top navigation

2. Click **Operation & Monitor** > **Performance Center**  
   - Element: **Operation & Monitor** (menu) — left-side navigation pane

3. Click the **Monitoring Dashboard** tab  
   - Element: **Monitoring Dashboard** (tab) — Performance Center page

4. Click **New Monitoring Market** button  
   - Element: **New Monitoring Market** (button) — target database engine tab

5. Enter a name for the monitoring dashboard and click **Confirm**  
   - Element: **Confirm** (button) — modal dialog

6. Click **Select Instances and Metrics**, choose target instances and metrics, then confirm selection  
   - Element: **Select Instances and Metrics** (button) — modal dialog  
   - Notes: You can select up to 32 instances to monitor at a time

7. Click **Confirm The Selection**  
   - Element: **Confirm The Selection** (button) — modal dialog

8. Select a monitoring dashboard and set a time range to view metric trends  
   - Element: **Select Monitoring Dashboard** (dropdown) — Performance Center page  
   - Notes: Time range cannot span more than seven days

9. Use **Instance Filter** to compare multiple instances  
   - Element: **Instance Filter** (checkbox) — dashboard controls

10. Turn on **Automatic Refresh** to refresh data every 5 seconds  
    - Element: **Automatic Refresh** (toggle) — dashboard controls

11. Turn on **Linkage Chart** to correlate metrics and view values at the same point in time  
    - Element: **Linkage Chart** (toggle) — dashboard controls

12. Set number of charts per row using **Chart Layout**  
    - Element: **Chart Layout** (dropdown) — dashboard controls

13. Click **Add Instance and Monitoring Index** to modify instances or metrics  
    - Element: **Add Instance and Monitoring Index** (button) — dashboard controls

14. Click **Zoom In** on a metric trend chart to zoom in  
    - Element: **Zoom In** (button) — metric trend chart

15. Click **Delete** on a metric trend chart to remove it from the dashboard  
    - Element: **Delete** (button) — metric trend chart

### Enable Performance Insight

**Navigation**: Console > RDS > Autonomous Service > Performance Insight

**Prerequisites**:
- The RDS instance runs MySQL
- The RDS instance is not Basic Edition
- The RDS instance does not run MySQL 5.5
- The memory capacity of your RDS instance is greater than or equal to 8 GB
- The Performance Schema feature is enabled for the RDS instance
- The RDS instance resides in one of the supported regions: China (Hangzhou), China (Shanghai), China (Qingdao), China (Beijing), China (Zhangjiakou), China (Shenzhen), China (Chengdu), China (Hong Kong), Singapore, Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), and Indonesia (Jakarta)

1. Navigate to the **Performance Insight** section  
   - Element: **Autonomous Service > Performance Insight** (menu) — left-side navigation pane

2. Click to enable the new performance insight feature  
   - Element: **Enable Performance Insight** (button) — top of the page  
   - Notes: If Performance Schema is disabled, a dialog appears — click **Go to Settings** and restart the instance during off-peak hours

3. Use the tabs on the Performance Insight page  
   - Element: **Tab: Full SQL Detail View** (tab) — main content area  
   - Notes: View trend charts for Resource Consumption Top SQL, Implementation Number, Scanning Rows, and Implementation Time Consuming

4. View details of a specific SQL statement  
   - Element: **SQL statement ID** (link) — SQL list section  
   - Notes: Click to see samples, throttling options, and optimization suggestions

5. Compare performance across different time periods  
   - Element: **Contrast View** (tab) — main content area

6. Query tables and indexes with no traffic  
   - Element: **Table & Index** (tab) — main content area  
   - Notes: Set filter conditions to find unused objects

### View Performance Trends

**Navigation**: Console > RDS > Instances > Autonomy Services > Dashboard

**Prerequisites**:  
None

1. Go to the **Instances** page and select the region where your RDS instance resides, then click the instance ID  
   - Element: **Instances** (link) — top navigation bar

2. Choose **Autonomy Services** > **Dashboard** from the left navigation pane  
   - Element: **Autonomy Services** (menu) — left navigation panel

3. Select a time range to load corresponding monitoring metrics  
   - Element: **time range selector** (dropdown) — top of the page  
   - Notes: Historical data is available for the last 30 days only

4. Click the **real-time icon** before the time range selector to enable real-time mode  
   - Element: **real-time icon** (button) — before the time range selector  
   - Notes: Page refreshes every 5 seconds

5. Set **Data Granularity** to control sampling interval  
   - Element: **Data Granularity** (dropdown) — top of the page  
   - Notes: Options: 5 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute

6. Click the **metric description icon** next to a metric name to view sub-metrics and descriptions  
   - Element: **metric description icon** (button) — next to metric name in chart

7. Drag across a metric trend chart to select a time window, then click **Diagnose** to run analysis  
   - Element: **Diagnose** (button) — above selected time window

8. For Cluster Edition instances, select one or more nodes to compare their metrics side by side  
   - Element: **node selection** (checkbox) — top of the chart area  
   - Notes: Available only for Cluster Edition instances

### Configure Event Alerting

**Navigation**: Console > RDS > Autonomous Service > Diagnosis & Optimization > Self-Government Center

**Prerequisites**:
- DAS enabled on RDS instance
- Required permissions to access DAS features

1. Go to the **Self-Government Center** page  
   - Element: **Self-Government Center** (link) — left-side navigation pane

2. Click the **Enable Subscription Service** switch  
   - Element: **Enable Subscription Service** (switch) — Event Subscription Settings tab

3. Select severity levels for notifications  
   - Element: **Severity** (dropdown) — Event Subscription Settings tab  
   - Notes: Options: Serious, Warn, Optimization, Notice

4. Add contacts or contact groups  
   - Element: **Selected Contacts/Contact Groups** (list) — Event Subscription Settings tab  
   - Notes: Click the icon to add recipients

5. Choose notification delivery method  
   - Element: **Notification Method** (dropdown) — Event Subscription Settings tab  
   - Notes: Options: text message, Webhook, text message + Webhook, text message + email

6. Set notification language  
   - Element: **Notification Language** (dropdown) — Event Subscription Settings tab  
   - Notes: Only Chinese is currently supported

7. Set minimum notification interval  
   - Element: **Minimum Notification Interval** (text_input) — Event Subscription Settings tab  
   - Notes: Prevents repeated notifications for persistent events

8. Confirm configuration  
   - Element: **Confirm** (button) — bottom of the page

| Parameter | Type | Required | Options/Values | Description |
|-----------|------|----------|----------------|-------------|
| Severity | dropdown | No | Serious, Warn, Optimization, Notice | Specifies the severity level of an event that triggers a notification |
| Select Contacts/Contact Groups | list | No | — | Click the icon to add contacts or contact groups to the Selected Contacts/Contact Groups list |
| Notification Method | dropdown | No | text message, Webhook, text message + Webhook, text message + email | The notification delivery method |
| Notification Language | dropdown | No | Chinese | Currently, only Chinese is supported |
| Minimum Notification Interval | text_input | No | — | The minimum interval between notifications for the same event |

## FAQ

Q: Where can I find the monitoring frequency setting?
A: Monitoring frequency can only be configured on the legacy monitoring page. Navigate to Console > RDS > Instances > Monitoring (Old Version), then click the Monitor Setting button.

Q: What happens if I leave the monitoring frequency at the default value?
A: The default monitoring frequency is Every 300 seconds (5 minutes), which is free of charge. Higher frequencies like Every 5 seconds incur hourly charges.

Q: Can I modify alert rules after creation?
A: Yes. In the CloudMonitor console under Alert Rules, you can click Modify in the Actions column to update thresholds, contact groups, or evaluation periods.

Q: What permissions do I need to configure Performance Insight?
A: You need permissions to access the Autonomous Service section and modify instance settings. Additionally, your RDS instance must meet edition, version, and memory requirements.

Q: How long is monitoring data retained?
A: Standard monitoring data is retained for the last 30 days. Custom dashboards and Performance Insight may have different retention periods (e.g., 7 days for some features).

## Pricing & Billing

### Billing Model
- **5-second monitoring frequency**: Billed hourly at CNY 0.05 per hour (USD 0.012 per hour)
- **Alert notifications**: Billed per request at 0.0001 /
- **Standard monitoring (60s/300s)**: Free of charge
- **CloudMonitor basic features**: Included at no additional cost

### Free Tier
- 60-second and 300-second monitoring frequencies are free
- CloudMonitor provides free monitoring and alerting for ApsaraDB RDS instances
- Monthly 100 free alert notifications (for some configurations)

### Quota Limits
- Up to 32 instances can be monitored simultaneously in custom dashboards
- Data retention: last 30 days for standard monitoring
- Up to 100 alert rules per account
- Up to 1000 notifications per day for free tier users

### Billing Notes
- Charges for 5-second monitoring are billed hourly on a pay-as-you-go basis
- Alert notifications are charged per actual trigger occurrence
- For cloud disk instances, monitoring frequency is fixed at 60 seconds
- Additional features like SMS or DingTalk notifications may incur separate fees beyond email