# Epic: Mimir

This epic describes the process of replacing VictoriaMetrics with Grafana Mimir as the long-term storage solution for metrics and time-series data. This transition may be necessary due to factors such as the need for more scalability, cost-effectiveness, and reliability, or the desire to integrate with existing systems that use Grafana for monitoring and alerting. The process of transitioning from VictoriaMetrics to Grafana Mimir may involve compatibility testing, data migration, performance and reliability evaluation, and cost and resource analysis.

Process of replacing VictoriaMetrics with Grafana Mimir as the long-term storage solution for metrics and time-series data. This transition may be necessary due to factors such as the need for more scalability, cost-effectiveness, and reliability, or the desire to integrate with existing systems that use Grafana for monitoring and alerting. The process of transitioning from VictoriaMetrics to Grafana Mimir may involve compatibility testing, data migration, performance and reliability evaluation, and cost and resource analysis.

When transitioning from VictoriaMetrics to Grafana Mimir, there are a few key factors that should be considered:

- Compatibility: It is important to ensure that Grafana Mimir is compatible with your existing systems and can support the features and functions that you currently use in VictoriaMetrics. This may require some testing and evaluation to determine the level of compatibility and to make any necessary adjustments or changes.
- Data migration: In order to transition from VictoriaMetrics to Grafana Mimir, you will need to migrate your data from the VictoriaMetrics database to the Grafana Mimir database. This process should be carefully planned and executed to avoid any loss of data or disruption to your services.
- Performance and reliability: Grafana Mimir may not be as fast or as efficient as VictoriaMetrics in certain scenarios, so it is important to monitor its performance and reliability in your environment and make any necessary adjustments or optimizations.
- Cost and resource usage: Grafana Mimir may have different resource requirements or cost implications compared to VictoriaMetrics, so it is important to carefully evaluate these factors and ensure that the transition is cost-effective and sustainable in the long term.
- Overall, it is essential to carefully plan and execute the transition from VictoriaMetrics to Grafana Mimir in order to ensure that the new storage system meets your requirements and provides the performance, reliability, and cost-effectiveness that you need.

- **Create multi-environment pipeline with GitLab CI**

Description: Use GitLab CI to create a pipeline that supports multiple environments for deploying Grafana Mimir.

- Set up GitLab CI and configure the pipeline to support multiple environments.
- Define the different environments (e.g. staging, production) and their associated variables and settings.
- Add the necessary steps to the pipeline for building and deploying the Grafana Mimir Helm chart to the different environments.
- Test the pipeline to ensure that it is working as expected and that Grafana Mimir can be deployed to the different environments.

- **Configure and deploy Grafana Mimir Helm chart**

Description: Use the Grafana Mimir Helm chart to configure and deploy Grafana Mimir in the desired environments.

- Download and install the Grafana Mimir Helm chart.
- Configure the chart with the appropriate settings and values for the target environments.
- Deploy the chart to the desired environments using the pipeline.
- Test the deployment to ensure that Grafana Mimir is running and functioning as expected in the target environments.

- **Standardizing Mimir's log format**

Description: Convert Mimir's log format to a standardized format, such as JSON, to improve its readability and compatibility with other systems. This will make it easier to process and analyze the logs for debugging, monitoring, and other purposes.

- Identify the current log format used by Mimir.
- Research the benefits and drawbacks of using JSON as a log format.
- Configure Mimir to use JSON as the log format.
- Test the new log format to ensure that it is working correctly and producing the expected output.

- **Monitoring Mimir metrics**

Description: Set up monitoring and alerting for Mimir's own metrics, such as CPU usage, memory usage, and network traffic. This will help to identify any potential issues or performance bottlenecks in the Mimir cluster.

- Identify the metrics that need to be monitored.
- Configure monitoring and alerting for those metrics in Grafana.
- Set up alerts and notifications for when the metrics reach certain thresholds or indicate potential problems.
- Monitor the metrics regularly and respond to any alerts or issues that are identified.

- **Defining Mimir alerts and creating dashboards**

Description: Define alerts and create dashboards in Grafana to monitor and visualize the metrics and time-series data stored in Mimir. This will allow you to easily monitor the performance and health of your systems and applications.

- Define the alerts that need to be created, based on the metrics and data stored in Mimir.
- Create the alerts in Grafana and configure the notifications and thresholds.
- Create dashboards in Grafana to visualize the metrics and data from Mimir.
- Test the alerts and dashboards to ensure that they are working correctly and providing the desired information.

- **Setting up a test environment**

Description: Set up a test environment for Mimir, using Istio mirrors, to allow for testing and debugging without impacting the production environment. This will allow you to safely experiment with changes and improvements to Mimir without risking any disruption to your services.

- Create a test environment for Mimir using Istio mirrors.
- Configure the test environment with the necessary resources and settings.
- Test the test environment to ensure that it is working correctly and that the mirrors are providing the desired functionality.
- Use the test environment for testing and debugging purposes as needed.

- **Activating Mimir traces**

Description: Turn on tracing in Mimir to improve visibility into the performance and behavior of its services. This will allow you to see the flow of requests and responses through the Mimir cluster, and to identify any potential bottlenecks or issues.

- Investigate available tracing solutions and select one that is compatible with Mimir.
- Configure Mimir to use the chosen tracing solution.
- Test the tracing to ensure that it is functioning correctly and providing the desired information.
- Use the tracing to monitor the performance and behavior of the Mimir services.

- **Integrating Cross Cluster Memberlist Hash Ring**

Description: Add the Cross Cluster Memberlist Hash Ring feature to Mimir to enable data replication and redundancy. This will improve the reliability and availability of the storage system and reduce the risk of data loss.

- Learn about the Cross Cluster Memberlist Hash Ring feature and its benefits.
- Implement the feature in Mimir, following the relevant guidelines and best practices.
- Test the feature to ensure that it is working as expected and providing the desired functionality.
- Monitor the performance and behavior of Mimir with the Cross Cluster Memberlist Hash Ring enabled.

- **Enabling Istio and using mirrors**

Description: Enable Istio in the Mimir cluster and use mirrors to improve its reliability and scalability. This will allow you to route traffic and manage the behavior of services in the cluster, and to use mirrors to create copies of services for testing and debugging purposes.

- Install and configure Istio in the Mimir cluster.
- Set up mirrors for the services in the cluster.
- Test the use of Istio and mirrors to ensure that they are working as expected.
- Monitor the performance and behavior of the services with Istio and mirrors enabled.

- **Comparing performance of old and new systems**

Description: Conduct performance testing to compare the performance of the old system, which used VictoriaMetrics, with the new system, which uses Grafana Mimir. This will help to evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of the two systems and determine which one is better suited for your needs.

- Set up performance testing scenarios for both the old and new systems.
- Run the performance tests and collect the results for both systems.
- Analyze the results and compare the performance of the two systems.
- Identify any potential advantages or disadvantages of the new system compared to the old system.

- **Load testing**

Description: Conduct load testing on the Grafana Mimir system to evaluate its performance and reliability under different workloads. This will help to identify any potential bottlenecks or issues that may arise when the system is used in a production environment.

- Set up load testing scenarios for both read and write operations in Mimir.
- Run the load tests and collect the results.
- Analyze the results and identify any potential issues or performance bottlenecks.
- Implement any necessary optimizations or improvements based on the results of the load testing.

- **Implementing multi-tenancy**

Description: Implement multi-tenancy in the Grafana Mimir system to allow for the efficient and secure sharing of resources among multiple users or tenants. This will enable you to provide access to Mimir to multiple users or organizations while maintaining security and isolation between them.

- Research and understand the concept of multi-tenancy and how it can be implemented in Mimir.
- Configure Mimir to support multi-tenancy.
- Set up multiple tenants in Mimir and test the isolation and security

- **Implementing milestones in Beholder gateway**

Description: Implement the concept of milestones in the Beholder gateway, which is a component of Mimir. This will allow the gateway to track and maintain its internal state, and to resume operations after a restart or failure. Additionally, you can specify a date as a milestone, so that requests received before that date are routed to the old system (VictoriaMetrics), while requests received after that date are routed to the new system (Mimir).

- Research and understand the concept of milestones and how they can be used in the Beholder gateway.
- Implement the milestone functionality in the Beholder gateway, including the ability to specify a date as a milestone.
- Test the milestone implementation to ensure that it is working correctly and providing the desired behavior.
- Set the desired date as a milestone in the Beholder gateway.
- Monitor the performance and behavior of the Beholder gateway with milestones enabled, and ensure that requests are routed to the appropriate system based on the milestone date.

- **Increase bucket limits**

Description: Discuss with Alibaba cloud to increase the limits of the bucket used for storing data in Grafana Mimir.

- Contact Alibaba cloud and request an increase in the bucket limits.
- Provide necessary information about the data that will be migrated and the expected storage requirements.
- Confirm the new bucket limits and update the configuration in Grafana Mimir.
- Test the new limits to ensure that they are sufficient for the data migration.