diff --git a/docs/FAQ.md b/docs/FAQ.md index dd4951d3d3..520e533e66 100644 --- a/docs/FAQ.md +++ b/docs/FAQ.md @@ -235,6 +235,30 @@ It supports [high cardinality data](https://medium.com/@valyala/high-cardinality perfectly [scales up on a single node](https://medium.com/@valyala/measuring-vertical-scalability-for-time-series-databases-in-google-cloud-92550d78d8ae) and scales horizontally to multiple nodes. +## What is the difference between single-node and cluster versions of VictoriaMetrics? + +Both [single-node](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/Single-server-VictoriaMetrics.html) and +[cluster](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/Cluster-VictoriaMetrics.html) versions of VictoriaMetrics +share the core source code, so they have many common features. They have the following differences though: + +* [Single-node VictoriaMetrics](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/Single-server-VictoriaMetrics.html) runs on a single host, + while [cluster version of VictoriaMetrics](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/Cluster-VictoriaMetrics.html) can scale to many hosts. + Single-node VictoriaMetrics scales vertically though, e.g. its capacity and performance scales almost linearly when increasing + available CPU, RAM, disk IO and disk space. See [an article about vertical scalability of a single-node VictoriaMetrics](https://valyala.medium.com/measuring-vertical-scalability-for-time-series-databases-in-google-cloud-92550d78d8ae). + +* Cluster version of VictoriaMetrics supports [multitenancy](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/Cluster-VictoriaMetrics.html#multitenancy), + while single-node VictoriaMetrics doesn't support it. + +* Cluster version of VictoriaMetrics supports data replication, while single-node VictoriaMetrics relies on the durability + of the persistent storage pointed by `-storageDataPath` command-line flag. + See [these docs](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/Cluster-VictoriaMetrics.html#replication-and-data-safety) for details. + +* Single-node VictoriaMetrics provides higher capacity and performance comparing to cluster version of VictoriaMetrics + when running on the same hardware with the same amounts of CPU and RAM, since it has no overhead on data transfer + between cluster components over the network. + +See also [which type of VictoriaMetrics is recommended to use](#which-victoriametrics-type-is-recommended-for-use-in-production---single-node-or-cluster). + ## Where can I ask questions about VictoriaMetrics? Questions about VictoriaMetrics can be asked via the following channels: @@ -303,6 +327,11 @@ VictoriaMetrics maintains in-memory cache for mapping of [active time series](#w See [this article](https://valyala.medium.com/how-to-optimize-promql-and-metricsql-queries-85a1b75bf986). +VictoriaMetrics also provides [query tracer](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/#query-tracing) and [cardinality explorer](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/#cardinality-explorer), +which can help during query optimization. + +See also [troubleshooting slow queries](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/Troubleshooting.html#slow-queries). + ## Which VictoriaMetrics type is recommended for use in production - single-node or cluster? Both [single-node VictoriaMetrics](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/Single-server-VictoriaMetrics.html) and