★
Dear Observatory, We replaced six dashboards with one query. The team thanked me. I forwarded the thanks to you.
MK in Toronto
OBSERVATORY
A QUARTERLY ZINE FOR PEOPLE WHO RUN PRODUCTION SYSTEMS & LOSE SLEEP OVER THEM
COVER: A SINGLE QUERY RETURNS THE TRUTH IT WAS HIDING. PHOTOGRAPH BY THE EDITORS.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Five things
- 01Editor's notep.02
- 02On dashboards that liep.06
- 03A field walk through high cardinalityp.14
- 04Three pen pals write inp.22
- 05Colophon and submission guidelinesp.31
FEATURE / 06
On dashboards that lie.
Most dashboards are built to be screenshotted. The chart smooths the long tail into a soothing curve. The number in the corner stays inside the green line. The on-call engineer is told that everything is fine, and goes back to a sleep that was already shallow.
Observatory was not built to be screenshotted. It was built so the engineer could query her own systems without permission, see the long tail without buying another tier, and know what was happening at four in the morning without paying a vendor for the privilege.
This is not a story about a tool. It is a story about what happens when three engineers who knew the existing options were not enough sat down at three desks in three cities and built the alternative they wished they had during the worst on-call shifts of their careers.
We are publishing this zine because the documentation alone is not enough. Sometimes a project needs to be introduced the way a friend introduces a friend, with warmth and a slight tilt of the head. Welcome to the zine.
PEN PALS / 22
Letters in.
★
Dear editors, The install command actually worked on the first try. Are you sure this is open source?
AP in Berlin
★
Hello hello, My on-call shift used to be a vigil. Now it is a walk. The dog approves.
MY in Mexico City