Abstract

Understand the metric data that drives Datadog’s most popular features and products.

Learning Objectives

Upon completing this course, you will be able to:

  • Define metrics in the context of Datadog.
  • Differentiate between different types of metric data:
    • Count
    • Rate
    • Gauge
    • Histogram
    • Distribution
  • Explain how metric data is sent to Datadog.
  • Combine metric values with space aggregation methods.
  • Locate metrics within a dataset by name(s) or associated tag(s) in the Metrics Summary.
  • Graph metrics and observe their behavior across different timeframes in the Metrics Explorer.
  • Explain how timeseries graphs visualize the changes in metrics, log events, or Indexed Spans over time.

Primary Audience

As part of the Core Concepts learning path, this course is designed for anyone aiming to deepen their understanding of metrics, including:

  • Frontend developers using RUM and Synthetic metrics—such as load times, uptime, core web vitals, and error rates—to assess user experience and frontend performance.

  • Backend engineers leveraging APM, Infrastructure, and Cloud Network Monitoring metrics—like CPU and memory utilization, request rates, latency, and traffic volumes—to monitor and maintain system health.

  • Site Reliability Engineers (SREs) who rely on metrics-based alerts and dashboards to monitor interconnected systems and guide incident response.

  • Security professionals tracking security metrics—such as failed login attempts, privileged access events, and data access patterns—to detect anomalies and support threat detection.

Prerequisites

The prerequisites for this course are the following:

Technical Requirements

In order to complete the course, you will need:

  • Google Chrome or Firefox
  • Third-party cookies enabled

Course Navigation

At the bottom of each lesson, click MARK LESSON COMPLETE AND CONTINUE button so that you are marked complete for each lesson and can receive the certificate at the end of the course.

Course Enrollment Period

Please note that your enrollment in this course ends after 30 days. You can re-enroll at any time and pick up where you left off.

Course curriculum

    1. What is a Metric?

    2. Metric Sources & Submission

    3. Types of Datadog Metrics

    1. Lab: Introduction to Metrics in Datadog

    1. Summary & Additional Resources

    2. Feedback Survey

Getting Started with Metrics

  • 1 hours to complete
  • 0 hours of video content
  • Beginner
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