VMware integration vs. VMware (remote monitoring) extension

[andre_vdveen]

Hi,

Why should clients move away from the integrated VMware monitoring and go to the extension option?
Does anyone have the pros and cons between the two?
Will the built-in integration be sunset at some point?

[Mike_L]

That's a great question!

The new remote extension supports all the features of extension framework 2.0, such as ActiveGate groups and settings 2.0 security policies. It also supports more metrics, such as vsan and alarms raised by vcenter. We're also continuously adding features to it, such as linking the entity model with that one of ontap.

On the negative side, it isn't yet as native when it comes to Davis support. Davis will not follow the root cause detection from the host to the metrics of the new extension. This is still planned. Also, it's consuming custom metrics/DDUs as it is a regular extension.

As for sunsetting the built-in integration. This message might change so take it with a grain of salt: There is currently no plan for doing that for Dynatrace Managed. For Dynatrace SaaS we're currently discussing timelines internally and will share it once it is final.

[chuck_preecs]

For those on Managed - we were excited about this extension since it could get us the vmware alerts that we can only see in vrops right now.  Unfortunately, that part of the data is pushed into Grail.  The rest of the metrics provided does give us greater visibility into the ESXi hosts we didn't have previously.

[Mike_L]

No part of the data is dependent on Grail. Non-metric data is sent in using events and logs, and can be used without Grail. The included dashboard uses DQL, but the data would be available using regular non-Grail views.

[chuck_preecs]

I see there has been a significant extension update since we tried this in May.  We'll upgrade and try it out.  Thanks!

[AlvinPeterson]

Buyer Beware! 

The VMware (Remote Monitoring) extension delivers on all promises made in the documentation.  It's impressive.  The comment above about it consuming custom metrics should not be taken lightly.  Give careful consideration to what feature sets you enable.  This extension alone increased our total custom metric consumption 4x.  Consumption chart attached 😉

~Alvin