Most people know Prometheus for its powerful time-series database, but what many don't realize is that Prometheus can operate entirely without persistent storage.

While the default setup stores data locally on disk, you can run Prometheus in a stateless mode where metrics are kept only in memory. This is especially useful in environments where long-term data storage is handled by external systems like Thanos or Cortex, which provide scalable, long-term storage for Prometheus metrics.

In this stateless mode, Prometheus acts purely as a metrics collector and alerting tool, focusing on real-time monitoring rather than storing historical data.

This flexibility allows teams to choose between a lightweight setup for short-term monitoring or a full-fledged system for both real-time and long-term insights!

Oliver | GraphPe | Tutorials