As Chief Architect at Eradani, I frequently work with companies wrestling with a common challenge: how to bring comprehensive monitoring and observability to their mission-critical IBM i applications. During a recent customers-only office hours session, we explored this topic in depth, and I wanted to share some key insights about implementing modern observability practices across both new and legacy systems.
The Three Pillars of Modern Observability
Let’s start with the fundamentals. When we talk about observability, we’re really looking at three distinct but complementary components: metrics, logging, and tracing.
Think of metrics as your 10,000-foot view. They’re your dashboard numbers, your at-a-glance indicators that tell you whether everything’s running smoothly or if there’s a problem that needs attention. We’ve all seen those big flat-screen TVs mounted in offices showing system dashboards – that’s metrics at work.
Logging provides the details behind those numbers. While metrics might tell you that you had 100 errors today, logs tell you exactly what those errors were, when they happened, and why. However, logs come with their own challenges. I’ve worked with companies generating tens of gigabytes of log data daily. Try searching through that manually!
Then there’s tracing – perhaps the most powerful but least understood component. In today’s interconnected systems, a single request might touch 15-20 different services. When something goes wrong, tracing lets you follow that request’s entire journey through your system, seeing exactly where and why it failed.
The IBM i Challenge
Here’s where things get interesting. While modern platforms like Node.js, Python, and Java have built-in support for these observability tools, IBM i has traditionally been a blank space on the monitoring map. This creates a significant blind spot in many organizations’ observability strategies.
Think about it: you might have perfect visibility into your web servers, your message queues, and your cloud services, but as soon as a request hits your IBM i system, it vanishes into a black box. For companies running mission-critical workloads on IBM i, this isn’t just an inconvenience – it’s a serious operational challenge.
Bridging the Gap
The good news is that we can bridge this gap. At Eradani, we’ve developed an approach that lets RPG and COBOL programs participate in modern observability platforms with minimal overhead. The secret? Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, we leverage existing tools like Grafana, Loki, and Tempo, using Node.js as an intermediary.
Here’s how it works: RPG programs can track metrics and logs in temporary storage, then “flush” that data through our connector layer to Node.js, which handles the communication with observability platforms. The performance impact is minimal – we’re talking about 40-50 microseconds for a flush operation. That’s about 1/120th of a second!
Why This Matters
The ability to bring IBM i systems into your observability platform isn’t just about having pretty dashboards (though those are nice!). It’s about:
- Faster problem resolution when issues arise
- Better capacity planning based on real usage data
- Improved communication between legacy and modern development teams
- More confident decision-making about system investments
- Enhanced security monitoring across all platforms
Looking Forward
As systems become more complex and interconnected, comprehensive observability isn’t just nice to have – it’s essential. The good news is that you don’t have to choose between maintaining your reliable IBM i applications and having modern monitoring capabilities. You can have both.
Whether you’re running a modern cloud-native application or a 20-year-old RPG program (or both!), you can and should have visibility into how that system is performing. The tools and techniques exist today to make this possible, and the benefits to your organization can be substantial.
Remember: Good systems aren’t about old versus new – they’re about using the right tools for the job and making sure those tools can work together effectively. Modern observability is just one more way we can help our legacy systems participate fully in today’s technology landscape.
Ready to bring modern observability to your IBM i systems? We’d love to help you get started. At Eradani, we specialize in bridging the gap between legacy systems and modern technologies, helping organizations like yours maximize their IBM i investments while taking advantage of the latest innovations. Contact us today to learn more.
Key Takeaways
- Modern observability consists of three core components: metrics for high-level monitoring, logging for detailed information, and tracing for request tracking across systems.
- While traditional IBM i monitoring focuses on system resources, modern observability can track business metrics, API performance, and cross-system interactions.
- Open-source platforms like Grafana provide powerful observability capabilities without additional licensing costs, making them an excellent choice for organizations without existing monitoring solutions.
- IBM i systems can now participate in modern observability platforms with minimal performance impact (approximately 40-50 microseconds per operation).
- The right observability setup allows organizations to:
- Quickly identify and resolve production issues
- Track business metrics alongside technical metrics
- Maintain comprehensive system visibility
- Break down monitoring silos between legacy and modern systems
- Make data-driven decisions about system performance and capacity
- You don’t have to choose between maintaining reliable IBM i applications and having modern monitoring capabilities – you can have both.
