Many people are customers of Google Cloud Platform without realizing it because the processing packages and storage space service of Google often provide the infrastructure for other services. Among those customers are some of Google’s own products, such as Google G-Suite or Google Workspace.

Modern businesses blend together services from different providers, so you might have accounts with AWS and Azure as well as services from GCP. It is not uncommon to end up with hybrid systems that combine on-premises software with Cloud computing services. So, you need to be able to monitor all of these systems in one package rather than being forced to open up several different monitoring systems in order to look at your home infrastructure, your remote sites, and your cloud services.

Here is our list of the seven best GCP monitoring tools:

  • AppOptics EDITOR’S CHOICE This cloud-based service is able to monitor applications, services, and virtual infrastructure on GCP, other cloud systems, and on your premises. Start a 30-day free trial.
  • ManageEngine Applications Manager (FREE TRIAL) An on-premises software package that monitors applications, virtualizations, services, and servers on-site or on the cloud. Available for Windows Server and Linux. Start a 30-day free trial.
  • Site24x7 GCP Monitoring (FREE TRIAL) A comprehensive monitoring tool for all GCP services that can simultaneously monitor services of other cloud platforms plus on-site systems. This is a cloud-based service. Start a 30-day free trial.
  • Paessler PRTG (FREE TRIAL) A collection of network, server, and application monitors that includes cloud service monitoring. Available for installation on Windows Server or as a cloud-based service. Start 30-day free trial.
  • Datadog Infrastructure A cloud-based package of monitoring tools for applications, virtual environments, services, and server resources that includes a plug-in for GCP monitoring.
  • Dynatrace A cloud-based monitoring system for applications and services that includes AI technology to track the performance of cloud services including GCP.
  • Opsview A monitoring system for servers and applications. This tool is able to monitor all resources whether they are on-premises or in the cloud and it has a special extension for the Google Cloud Platform. It installs on Linux or is available as a cloud-based service.

The Best Google Cloud Platform monitoring tools

It is very, very rare for a business to only have GCP infrastructure and no other IT resources. Unless you are one of those few all-GCP businesses, you have a lot of other technology that you need to monitor.

We didn’t focus on tools that only monitor GCP for this review. Having to use several different monitoring systems to cover all of your IT systems is a waste of time and money. Modern systems are interconnected and the applications that you use on Google or the Compute Engine cloud storage accounts will feed through to other services on the cloud and on your site. You need to be able to trace through all the connected hardware and software that your business uses so that you can get an overview of all of your resources connected together.

In the search for useful monitoring tools, we looked at systems that had excellence in GCP monitoring as part of a wider IT resource monitoring service.

Using this set of criteria, we looked for Google Cloud Platform monitoring systems that are able to monitor other resources as well, providing a central console for all infrastructure monitoring.

Our methodology for selecting a GCP monitoring system

We reviewed the market for Google Cloud Platform monitoring tools and analyzed the options based on the following criteria:

  • The ability to integrate with the activity reporting functions of the GCP platform
  • Application dependency mapping
  • Infrastructure monitoring
  • Live activity tracking and stored event data for capacity planning
  • Alerts and notifications for performance problems
  • A free trial or a demo package that creates an opportunity to test the system before paying
  • Good value for money from a monitoring tool that saves time and is offered at a reasonable price

1. AppOptics (FREE TRIAL)

AppOptics is an infrastructure and applications monitoring system that is based in the cloud. As it doesn’t need to be hosted on your premises, it is not limited to monitoring your on-site systems. Its cloud monitoring capabilities extend to identifying services that interact with your on-site resources.

Key Features:

  • Runs on Windows Server
  • Infrastructure and applications monitoring
  • Monitors on-site and cloud resources
  • Application dependency mapping
  • Performance alerts

As well as monitoring cloud platforms, this service can monitor cloud-based services, such as G-Suite. The dashboard for the service is cloud-resident and it can be accessed from anywhere through any standard browser. The system shows live time-series graphs of performance for each component of your infrastructure.

You will be able to set performance thresholds and, should service levels drop below acceptable performance, the system will trigger an alert. Those alerts can be sent out as notifications by email, SMS, and Slack notification. The alert system also applies to infrastructure capacity issues, such as CPU availability, memory, and disk space.

The AppOptics system has two modules – Infrastructure and Application monitoring. Subscribers to the application monitoring service also get the infrastructure monitoring facilities as well. The application monitor creates an application service map that assists in root cause analysis when problems arise in a user-facing piece of software. The true cause of the problem needs to be identified quickly and this plan helps with that.

Other features in the tool include live code profiling that can identify exactly which line of which program is causing problems. It can also track the influence of frameworks and platforms, such as .NET.

AppOptics is a subscription service and you can experience it on a 30-day free trial.

Pros:

  • Offers great visualizations reflecting live and historical health metrics and resource consumption
  • Supports monitoring cloud infrastructure, services, and network
  • Tracks all major resources focusing on over 180 different metrics
  • Can monitor Docker, Azure, and Hyper-V platforms, offering more flexibility than competing options

Cons:

  • Would like to see a longer trial period

2. ManageEngine Applications Manager (FREE TRIAL)

EDITOR’S CHOICE

AppOptics is our top pick for Google cloud monitoring because it can cover other cloud platforms as well and blend GCP services monitoring with the applications of other providers. While covering all cloud services, this system can also include your on-premises virtualizations, services, and applications, creating a full overview of all your IT resources no matter where they are based. As this is a cloud-based service, you can access it from anywhere through a web browser.

Get 30-day Free Trial: my.appoptics.com/sign_up

OS: Windows Server

The ManageEngine GCP Filestore Monitoring module, part of the Applications Manager,  monitors applications and servers and is able to supervise cloud resources as well as on-premises systems. The Applications Manager will monitor CPU statistics on your Google Compute Engine account and it also has storage monitoring capability if you subscribe to storage space from GCP.

The service is also able to track virtualization performance and identify the relationships between virtual servers and virtual machines. The ManageEngine system will watch over how your GCP services connect to your on-premises applications and create an application dependency map to facilitate root cause analysis if things go wrong.

  • Runs on Windows Server and Linux
  • Monitors on-site and cloud systems, including GCP
  • Application dependency mapping
  • Filestore manager for GCP

Applications Manager has an AI system for adjusting performance thresholds. This prevents the system from triggering alerts unnecessarily. Those alerts can be forwarded to you by email, SMS, or Slack notification.

Applications Manager is an on-premises software package that is available for Windows Server and Linux. There are three editions of Applications Manager: Free, Professional, and Enterprise. The Free version only includes five monitors. The Professional edition is for a single site and the Enterprise edition is suitable for large businesses that require a large volume of monitoring activity. You can test Applications Manager on a 30-day free trial.

  • Offers on-premise and cloud deployment options, giving companies more choices for install

  • Can highlight interdependencies between applications to map out how performance issues can impact businesses operations

  • Offers log monitoring to track metrics like memory usage, disk IO, and cache status, providing a holistic view into your database health

  • Can automatically detect databases, server hardware, and devices for real-time asset management

  • Can take time to fully explore all features and options available

ManageEngine GCP Filestore Monitoring Download 30-day FREE Trial

3. Site24x7 GCP Monitoring (FREE TRIAL)

Site24x7 GCP Monitoring specializes in monitoring cloud infrastructure and services but it can also track the performance of on-premises applications and their hosts. This tool is able to thread together the connections between all of your infrastructure, so you will see how your GCP services interact with other resources.

  • Tracks GCP, AWS, and Azure services
  • Platform, databases, IAM, and containers
  • Also monitors on-site systems

The system includes an autodiscovery feature and that is able to detect Google Compute Engine (GCE), Google App Engine (GAE), Google Kubernetes Engine, VPC, Cloud IAM, Cloud Audit Logging, Cloud SQL, and BigQuery instances, among others. The system can also track AWS and Azure services.

The Site24x7 Infrastructure service includes AI-based processes to identify the root cause of problems and also to fine-tune performance thresholds. Those thresholds trigger alerts that can be forwarded as notifications by email and SMS. The system also includes an automated remediation service that can kick in with processes that you specify should performance issues occur.

The Site24x7 Infrastructure system is based in the cloud and you access the dashboard through any standard browser. The screens in the console are customizable, which means that you can gather together data in one place, deciding whether data should be shown as lists of statistics or as graphs.

The Infrastructure plan is very flexible. As well as monitoring applications and services, it is able to give you server and network monitoring. An account gets you credits for a number of monitoring functions and you decide where to apply them. You can also add on extra monitoring credits for a fee.

The inclusion of physical asset monitoring means that you can view your entire IT system within the Site24x7 monitor from cloud applications all the way through your network to its performance on endpoints in your offices.

The Infrastructure plan is changed for on a subscription and you can experience it on a 30-day free trial.

  • Supports Google Cloud monitoring as well as server and network monitoring

  • Uses real-time data to discover devices and build charts, network maps, and inventory reports

  • Is one of the most user-friendly network monitoring tools available

  • User monitoring can help bridge the gap between technical issues, user behavior, and business metrics

  • Supports a freeware version for testing

  • Is a very detailed platform that will require time to fully learn all of its features and options

Site 24x7 GCP Monitoring Start 30-day FREE Trial

4. Paessler PRTG (FREE TRIAL)

Paessler PRTG is a collection of monitors that cover networks, servers, and applications. It is on-premises software, but it is not limited to just monitoring the site on which it is installed. It is also capable of monitoring remote sites and cloud services, such as those supplied by Google Cloud Platform.

  • Monitors sites and cloud platforms
  • Checks connection performance
  • Runs on Windows Server

The PRTG system is able to check on the connections to GCP servers and make sure that all of your services are available. When you exploit your GCP services in conjunction with other applications, whether from other cloud services or site-based systems, you can see how they flow together and observe their dependencies.

PRTG has performance thresholds that trip in service quality drops or device capacity gets used up. These trigger alerts, which should buy you time to fix problems and head off potential disaster. The alerts can be sent out as email or SMS notifications.

The PRTG dashboard presents performance metrics as lists of information and also as graphs and charts. The system is customizable because Paessler charges for PRTG in blocks of sensors. The delivered software package includes all capabilities and you decide which sensors to turn on until you have used up the allowance that you bought.

PRTG is available for installation on Windows Server and there is also a version available as a cloud-hosted service. You can get the on-premises version on a 30-day free trial that includes all sensors activated.

  • Supports a wide range of cloud monitoring environments – great for companies using multiple cloud products

  • Drag and drop editor makes it easy to build custom views and reports

  • Offers flexible integration with helpdesk systems and third-party messaging platforms

  • Highly customizable sensors – great for building custom monitoring solutions

  • Supports a robust freeware version

  • PRTG is designed with network professionals in mind – not ideal for non-technical users

Paessler PRTG Start 30-day FREE Trial

5. Datadog Infrastructure

Datadog Infrastructure is able to monitor cloud-based resources and also on-premises infrastructure. It examines the exchanges between those applications and services that support your user-facing software back down to the hosting server. The system is based in the cloud, so it isn’t restricted to monitoring services on one site. It is able to monitor cloud-based servers and services just as easily.

  • GCP integration
  • Also monitors AWS and Azure
  • Monitoring for on-site resources

The Datadog system is marketed as a standard package but it also has a library of integrations. These are free extensions to the system that add on extra sensors and also new screens in the system dashboard. There is an integration for Google Cloud Platform, so you can be sure that this monitoring system is very well set up to help you manage your GCP services.

As well as showing performance data live, the Datadog system collects metrics and stores them for capacity planning and other historical analysis tasks. The dashboard supports forecasting for planning and the system is also useful for parallel execution for comparison between systems when planning system migrations to the cloud. This ability applies to all of the services that the system monitors.

The Datadog Infrastructure service is charged for by subscription and there are three editions: Free, Pro, and Enterprise. The Free plan is limited to monitoring five hosts and it has a one-day data retention period. The Pro edition includes most of the monitoring services that you will need for GCP but advanced, AI-based features are reserved for the Enterprise edition. You can get a 14-day free trial of either of the paid plans.

  • Offers out of the box monitoring for cloud environments like Google Cloud and Azure

  • Has an excellent interface that’s easy to use

  • Can monitor both internally and externally giving network admins a holistic view of network performance and accessibility

  • Allows any size business to scale their monitoring efforts reliably through flexible pricing options

  • Would like to see a longer trial period for testing

 6. Dynatrace

Dynatrace is a monitoring system for applications and services that are located on-site or in the cloud and it particularly excels at monitoring Google Cloud Platform. The company is a Google Partner and has been able to produce a system that is fully integrated into GCP.

  • String monitoring capabilities for GCP
  • Also monitors AWS and Azure
  • Infrastructure and applications

This innovative monitoring service is itself delivered from the Cloud. Dynatrace is able to collect operating statistics from the platform and it also gathers user experience statistics, which can be another source of indications of system problems.

The Dynatrace system includes a lot of AI-driven automation. That includes the setup phase for the software. It scans your GCP accounts and registers all of the facilities that you subscribe to. It then assembles application dependency maps and identifies other internal structures, such as virtualization operations.

The application dependency maps put all research in place so that, if a performance issue arises somewhere in the system, the root cause analysis module of the monitor can quickly identify where problems are based.

Dynatrace also uses AI for performance baselining. This establishes a normal level of operation and is a standard against which the system can judge problems. Any deviation from standard performance raises an alert and triggers system investigation. The Dynatrace system automates as much of the monitoring tasks as possible.

The overview that Dynatrace gives of your system stretches out beyond Google Cloud Platform as it links up with all of your subscriptions for services like AWS and Azure. It is also able to include any applications and services that you host on your own servers.

Dynatrace is charged for by subscription at a rate per month. The service is offered in a number of plans and to get monitoring for GCP you would need to consider the Full-stack Monitoring and Infrastructure Monitoring packages. You can get a 15-day free trial to assess the system for yourself.

  • Can secure and monitor complicated Google Cloud/hybrid cloud environments with ease

  • Sleek, customizable interface – great for NOCs

  • Real-time LAN and WAN monitoring that supports virtual environments, great for MSPs and large enterprise networks

  • Leverages AI to detect trends and monitor baseline performance

  • Dynatrace is better suited for larger networks and enterprise organizations

  • Would like to see a longer trial

7. Opsview

Opsview is able to present a single view of hybrid systems, monitoring resources anywhere, including cloud platforms. The standard monitoring bundle of Opsview can be extended by plug=ins, called opspacks. There is an opspack for GCP. It is free and it adds on extra sensors and new screens to the core Opsview service.

  • Opspack extension for GCP
  • Monitors storage, processors, and databases on GCP
  • Maps connections between resources

The GCP opspack gives you monitoring capabilities for Compute Engine, Cloud Storage Buckets, and Cloud SQL Database instances. These functions are in addition to all of the other system monitoring features in the standard areas of the Opsview service.

The Opsview service searches through applications like a Web crawler and passes across sites and through different cloud platforms to string together an application dependency map. The system is particularly strong at chaining back from websites through services and APIs to get a full picture of the entire backend that supports those sites.

The system is able to identify virtual systems and map connections there, such as the relationship between virtual servers and virtual machines.

Opsview is offered in three versions. There is the SMB plan for small businesses and the Enterprise plan for large organizations. Both of those versions install on Linux servers. There is also the Opsview Cloud plan, which is hosted. You can get a demo of the cloud service.

  • Supports server, application, and cloud monitoring

  • Supports Google Cloud through a simple Google Cloud extension

  • Supports a free and paid version

  • Not the best option for enterprises using Google Cloud

  • AppOptics

  • ManageEngine Applications Manager

  • Site24x7 GCP Monitoring

  • Paessler PRTG – also a free version

  • Datadog Infrastructure

  • Dynatrace

  • Opsview