Understanding metrics and CloudWatch metrics

A metric is a specific data point that is singled out and further computed to derive meaning from a huge set of data or logs that has been collected. In some cases, there are standard metrics for systems such as operating systems, application servers, or web servers. It is also possible to set up and configure a specific data point that you believe is important to the status and behavior of a system that gives specific insight into all the data that has been collected. The goal behind a metric is to be able to draw insights from data. As mentioned earlier, a metric can be pulled from logs, or it can exist as an entity of its own. Whichever form a metric takes, it is the focal point and is paramount to decision making for monitoring systems. A metric directly feeds into how an alarm is triggered and the conditions surrounding a metric are what determine the state of an alarm in Amazon CloudWatch. There are various terms associated with CloudWatch...