# Grafana Kubernetes Monitoring  URL:: https://grafana.com/docs/grafana-cloud/kubernetes-monitoring/ Author:: Grafana Labs ## Highlights > Grafana Kubernetes Monitoring provides a simplified approach to monitoring your Kubernetes fleet by: > • Deploying Grafana Agent with useful defaults for collecting metrics that help manage cardinality > • Providing custom queries to collect useful logs > • Providing preconfigured dashboards, alert rules, and recording rules ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gyw8804nnz8a7r350ddbsd82)) ### Grafana Agent versus Grafana Agent Operator[](https://grafana.com/docs/grafana-cloud/kubernetes-monitoring#grafana-agent-versus-grafana-agent-operator) > Grafana Agent collects and forwards telemetry data (metrics, logs and traces) to Grafana deployments— Grafana Open Source, Grafana Cloud, or Grafana Enterprise. Kubernetes Monitoring uses Grafana Agent to ship the telemetry data to Grafana Cloud. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gyw8dwcrcf88jr8ehqefywhy)) > Grafana Agent Operator is a [Kubernetes operator](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/extend-kubernetes/operator/) that makes it easier to deploy Grafana Agent to collect telemetry data from your pods. > Grafana Agent Operator is an abstraction over Grafana Agent. Agent Operator ultimately makes it easier to configure and run in Kubernetes clusters. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gyw8e3174nvchf5dsdpm0hxg)) > If you choose Agent Operator, you’re actually using Grafana Agent beneath to collect and send telemetry data from your Kubernetes cluster. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gyw8eazn41r7dwd5atm27e7a)) > Grafana Agent Operator deploys custom resources for MetricsInstance, LogsInstance, PodLogs, and others. It helps distribute the configuration for metrics and logs unlike Grafana Agent, which relies on a single large config map. > Grafana Agent Operator also makes scaling easier. It manages your deployments of Grafana Agent for you. If you run Grafana Agent directly in Kubernetes, you need to manage the deployments manually. > The following table compares Grafana Agent and Grafana Agent Operator. > Property > Grafana Agent > Grafana Agent Operator > Kubernetes native > ✘ > ✓ > Works outside Kubernetes > ✓ > ✘ ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gyw8ey04sgv2a2kg8xd75gqg)) > Grafana Agent ships data to Grafana Cloud, whereas Kubernetes Monitoring is an opinionated visualization of the data being received. You can ship data to Grafana Cloud and build visualizations with dashboards yourself, but that process takes time. With Kubernetes Monitoring, you have preconfigured dashboards and alerts, so you can get started faster. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gyw8gv4h2aze4hpbq694h9x9)) --- Title: Grafana Kubernetes Monitoring Author: Grafana Labs Tags: readwise, articles date: 2024-01-30 --- # Grafana Kubernetes Monitoring  URL:: https://grafana.com/docs/grafana-cloud/kubernetes-monitoring/ Author:: Grafana Labs ## AI-Generated Summary Grafana Kubernetes Monitoring Grafana Kubernetes Monitoring provides a simplified approach to monitoring your Kubernetes fleet by: Deploying Grafana Agent with useful defaults for collecting metrics that help manage cardinality Providing custom queries to collect useful logs Providing preconfigured dashboards, alert rules, and recording rules For details, see Understand Kubernetes Monitoring. To get started right away, select a configuration method from the following table. For details about these approaches, see Grafana Agent versus Grafana Agent Operator. ## Highlights > Grafana Kubernetes Monitoring provides a simplified approach to monitoring your Kubernetes fleet by: > • Deploying Grafana Agent with useful defaults for collecting metrics that help manage cardinality > • Providing custom queries to collect useful logs > • Providing preconfigured dashboards, alert rules, and recording rules ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gyw8804nnz8a7r350ddbsd82)) ### Grafana Agent versus Grafana Agent Operator[](https://grafana.com/docs/grafana-cloud/kubernetes-monitoring#grafana-agent-versus-grafana-agent-operator) > Grafana Agent collects and forwards telemetry data (metrics, logs and traces) to Grafana deployments— Grafana Open Source, Grafana Cloud, or Grafana Enterprise. Kubernetes Monitoring uses Grafana Agent to ship the telemetry data to Grafana Cloud. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gyw8dwcrcf88jr8ehqefywhy)) > Grafana Agent Operator is a [Kubernetes operator](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/extend-kubernetes/operator/) that makes it easier to deploy Grafana Agent to collect telemetry data from your pods. > Grafana Agent Operator is an abstraction over Grafana Agent. Agent Operator ultimately makes it easier to configure and run in Kubernetes clusters. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gyw8e3174nvchf5dsdpm0hxg)) > If you choose Agent Operator, you’re actually using Grafana Agent beneath to collect and send telemetry data from your Kubernetes cluster. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gyw8eazn41r7dwd5atm27e7a)) > Grafana Agent Operator deploys custom resources for MetricsInstance, LogsInstance, PodLogs, and others. It helps distribute the configuration for metrics and logs unlike Grafana Agent, which relies on a single large config map. > Grafana Agent Operator also makes scaling easier. It manages your deployments of Grafana Agent for you. If you run Grafana Agent directly in Kubernetes, you need to manage the deployments manually. > The following table compares Grafana Agent and Grafana Agent Operator. > Property > Grafana Agent > Grafana Agent Operator > Kubernetes native > ✘ > ✓ > Works outside Kubernetes > ✓ > ✘ ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gyw8ey04sgv2a2kg8xd75gqg)) > Grafana Agent ships data to Grafana Cloud, whereas Kubernetes Monitoring is an opinionated visualization of the data being received. You can ship data to Grafana Cloud and build visualizations with dashboards yourself, but that process takes time. With Kubernetes Monitoring, you have preconfigured dashboards and alerts, so you can get started faster. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gyw8gv4h2aze4hpbq694h9x9))