Do I Understand Prometheus's Rate Vs Increase Functions Correctly?
Understanding the rate and increase functions in Prometheus is crucial for accurately analyzing time-series data. Here's a detailed breakdown of both functions and their differences to ensure you have a solid grasp of how they work.
Rate Function
- Definition: The
ratefunction calculates the average per-second rate of increase of a counter over a specified time range. Usage: It is primarily used for counters, which are metrics that only increase (or reset). The function is written as:
rate(metric_name[time_range])Example: If you have a counter that tracks the number of HTTP requests, you could use:
rate(http_requests_total[5m])This returns the average number of requests per second over the last 5 minutes.
Key Points:
- The result is a rate (requests per second) based on the specified time interval.
- It handles counter resets automatically (e.g., when the service restarts).
- Useful for generating smooth graphs over time.
Increase Function
- Definition: The
increasefunction calculates the total increase in a counter over a specified time range. Usage: This function also works with counters, and it’s written as:
increase(metric_name[time_range])Example: Continuing with the HTTP request example, you could use:
increase(http_requests_total[5m])This returns the total number of requests that occurred over the last 5 minutes.
Key Points:
- The result is an absolute count of the metric increase over the specified time.
- It also handles counter resets automatically.
- Useful for calculating total occurrences (e.g., total requests) over a defined period.
Key Differences
- Output:
rate: Returns the per-second rate of increase (e.g., requests/second).increase: Returns the total increase over the specified time (e.g., total requests).
- Use Cases:
- Use
ratewhen you are interested in the speed of change or performance (e.g., how fast requests are coming in). - Use
increasewhen you need to know the total amount of something that occurred (e.g., total requests over a time period).
- Use
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