Semantic conventions for memory metrics

Status: Development

Memory metrics hw.memory.*

A memory module in a computer system.

hw.type MUST be set to "memory".

All memory metrics may include the below attributes:

AttributeTypeDescriptionExamplesRequirement LevelStability
hw.idstringAn identifier for the hardware component, unique within the monitored hostwin32battery_battery_testsysa33_1RequiredDevelopment
hw.memory.typestringType of the memory moduleDDR4; DDR5; LPDDR5RecommendedDevelopment
hw.modelstringDescriptive model name of the hardware componentPERC H740P; Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10700K; Dell XPS 15 BatteryRecommendedDevelopment
hw.namestringAn easily-recognizable name for the hardware componenteth0RecommendedDevelopment
hw.parentstringUnique identifier of the parent component (typically the hw.id attribute of the enclosure, or disk controller)dellStorage_perc_0RecommendedDevelopment
hw.serial_numberstringSerial number of the hardware componentCNFCP0123456789RecommendedDevelopment
hw.vendorstringVendor name of the hardware componentDell; HP; Intel; AMD; LSI; LenovoRecommendedDevelopment

Metric: hw.errors (Memory)

This metric is recommended.

Number of errors encountered on this memory module.

When using this metric, the following attributes MUST be set:

  • hw.type MUST be set to "memory" to indicate that the errors are from a memory module.
NameInstrument TypeUnit (UCUM)DescriptionStabilityEntity Associations
hw.errorsCounter{error}Number of errors encountered by the component.Development
AttributeTypeDescriptionExamplesRequirement LevelStability
hw.idstringAn identifier for the hardware component, unique within the monitored hostwin32battery_battery_testsysa33_1RequiredDevelopment
hw.typestringType of the component [1]battery; cpu; disk_controllerRequiredDevelopment
error.typestringThe type of error encountered by the component. [2]uncorrected; zero_buffer_credit; crc; bad_sectorConditionally Required if and only if an error has occurredStable
hw.namestringAn easily-recognizable name for the hardware componenteth0RecommendedDevelopment
hw.parentstringUnique identifier of the parent component (typically the hw.id attribute of the enclosure, or disk controller)dellStorage_perc_0RecommendedDevelopment
network.io.directionstringDirection of network traffic for network errors. [3]receive; transmitRecommendedDevelopment

[1] hw.type: Describes the category of the hardware component for which hw.state is being reported. For example, hw.type=temperature along with hw.state=degraded would indicate that the temperature of the hardware component has been reported as degraded.

[2] error.type: The error.type SHOULD match the error code reported by the component, the canonical name of the error, or another low-cardinality error identifier. Instrumentations SHOULD document the list of errors they report.

[3] network.io.direction: This attribute SHOULD only be used when hw.type is set to "network" to indicate the direction of the error.


error.type has the following list of well-known values. If one of them applies, then the respective value MUST be used; otherwise, a custom value MAY be used.

ValueDescriptionStability
_OTHERA fallback error value to be used when the instrumentation doesn’t define a custom value.Stable

hw.type has the following list of well-known values. If one of them applies, then the respective value MUST be used; otherwise, a custom value MAY be used.

ValueDescriptionStability
batteryBatteryDevelopment
cpuCPUDevelopment
disk_controllerDisk controllerDevelopment
enclosureEnclosureDevelopment
fanFanDevelopment
gpuGPUDevelopment
logical_diskLogical diskDevelopment
memoryMemoryDevelopment
networkNetworkDevelopment
physical_diskPhysical diskDevelopment
power_supplyPower supplyDevelopment
tape_driveTape driveDevelopment
temperatureTemperatureDevelopment
voltageVoltageDevelopment

network.io.direction has the following list of well-known values. If one of them applies, then the respective value MUST be used; otherwise, a custom value MAY be used.

ValueDescriptionStability
receivereceiveDevelopment
transmittransmitDevelopment

Metric: hw.memory.size

This metric is recommended.

Size of the memory module.

NameInstrument TypeUnit (UCUM)DescriptionStabilityEntity Associations
hw.memory.sizeUpDownCounterBySize of the memory module.Development
AttributeTypeDescriptionExamplesRequirement LevelStability
hw.idstringAn identifier for the hardware component, unique within the monitored hostwin32battery_battery_testsysa33_1RequiredDevelopment
hw.memory.typestringType of the memory moduleDDR4; DDR5; LPDDR5RecommendedDevelopment
hw.modelstringDescriptive model name of the hardware componentPERC H740P; Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10700K; Dell XPS 15 BatteryRecommendedDevelopment
hw.namestringAn easily-recognizable name for the hardware componenteth0RecommendedDevelopment
hw.parentstringUnique identifier of the parent component (typically the hw.id attribute of the enclosure, or disk controller)dellStorage_perc_0RecommendedDevelopment
hw.serial_numberstringSerial number of the hardware componentCNFCP0123456789RecommendedDevelopment
hw.vendorstringVendor name of the hardware componentDell; HP; Intel; AMD; LSI; LenovoRecommendedDevelopment

Metric: hw.status (Memory)

This metric is recommended.

Operational status: 1 (true) or 0 (false) for each of the possible states.

When using this metric for memory status, the following attributes MUST be set:

  • hw.type MUST be set to "memory" to indicate that the status is for a memory module.
  • hw.state MUST be set to one of the following values to indicate the memory state:
    • "ok": The memory module is operating normally.
    • "degraded": The memory module is operating with reduced functionality or performance.
    • "failed": The memory module has failed and is not operational.
    • "predicted_failure": The memory module is currently operational but is predicted to fail soon.
NameInstrument TypeUnit (UCUM)DescriptionStabilityEntity Associations
hw.statusUpDownCounter1Operational status: 1 (true) or 0 (false) for each of the possible states. [1]Development

[1]: hw.status is currently specified as an UpDownCounter but would ideally be represented using a StateSet as defined in OpenMetrics. This semantic convention will be updated once StateSet is specified in OpenTelemetry. This planned change is not expected to have any consequence on the way users query their timeseries backend to retrieve the values of hw.status over time.

AttributeTypeDescriptionExamplesRequirement LevelStability
hw.idstringAn identifier for the hardware component, unique within the monitored hostwin32battery_battery_testsysa33_1RequiredDevelopment
hw.statestringThe current state of the componentdegraded; failed; needs_cleaningRequiredDevelopment
hw.typestringType of the component [1]battery; cpu; disk_controllerRequiredDevelopment
hw.namestringAn easily-recognizable name for the hardware componenteth0RecommendedDevelopment
hw.parentstringUnique identifier of the parent component (typically the hw.id attribute of the enclosure, or disk controller)dellStorage_perc_0RecommendedDevelopment

[1] hw.type: Describes the category of the hardware component for which hw.state is being reported. For example, hw.type=temperature along with hw.state=degraded would indicate that the temperature of the hardware component has been reported as degraded.


hw.state has the following list of well-known values. If one of them applies, then the respective value MUST be used; otherwise, a custom value MAY be used.

ValueDescriptionStability
degradedDegradedDevelopment
failedFailedDevelopment
needs_cleaningNeeds CleaningDevelopment
okOKDevelopment
predicted_failurePredicted FailureDevelopment

hw.type has the following list of well-known values. If one of them applies, then the respective value MUST be used; otherwise, a custom value MAY be used.

ValueDescriptionStability
batteryBatteryDevelopment
cpuCPUDevelopment
disk_controllerDisk controllerDevelopment
enclosureEnclosureDevelopment
fanFanDevelopment
gpuGPUDevelopment
logical_diskLogical diskDevelopment
memoryMemoryDevelopment
networkNetworkDevelopment
physical_diskPhysical diskDevelopment
power_supplyPower supplyDevelopment
tape_driveTape driveDevelopment
temperatureTemperatureDevelopment
voltageVoltageDevelopment