What is Azure Data Explorer?
Azure Data Explorer (also called Kusto) is a highly scalable analytics service for real-time insights into log, telemetry, and time series data. The service processes petabytes of data with query times in the seconds range.
Core Features
- Real-time ingestion of streaming data
- KQL (Kusto Query Language) for complex analytics
- Automatic indexing and compression
- Native visualization and dashboards
- Integration with Power BI, Grafana, and Azure Monitor
Typical Use Cases
- Log analysis for applications and infrastructure
- IoT telemetry and sensor evaluation
- Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
Benefits
- Sub-second queries on billions of rows
- Cost-effective through automatic data tiering
- Serverless option for variable workloads
- Native Azure Monitor integration
Integration with innFactory
As a Microsoft Solutions Partner, innFactory supports you with Azure Data Explorer: architecture, data ingestion pipelines, KQL optimization, and integration with monitoring systems.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Azure Data Explorer optimized for?
For interactive analytics on streaming and time series data: logs, IoT telemetry, application metrics. Queries on billions of rows take seconds.
What is KQL (Kusto Query Language)?
A powerful query language for Data Explorer, optimized for time series and log data. Similar to SQL but with extended functions for aggregations and pattern matching.
How does Data Explorer integrate with other services?
Native integration with Event Hub, IoT Hub, Azure Monitor, Power BI, and Azure Synapse. Data can be continuously streamed.
When should I use Data Explorer instead of Log Analytics?
Data Explorer for custom applications and high data volumes. Log Analytics for Azure-native monitoring with pre-configured dashboards.
