What Is It?
Monitoring as a Service (MaaS) is IONOS Cloud's built-in, free monitoring solution that automatically collects basic performance data from virtual instances (VMs, Cubes, and Dedicated Core servers) at the virtualization layer. The service begins collecting metrics upon instance provisioning, with first data becoming available after approximately 10 minutes, capturing CPU utilization, network ingress/egress, and storage read/write operations without requiring any client-side agent installation. MaaS provides up to two weeks of retention with simple threshold-based email alerts accessible via Data Center Designer (DCD) and API, and supports Prometheus-compatible metric export via the Telemetry API for integration with external systems.
Note: After September 1, 2024, MaaS will receive limited support and updates. For new projects or long-term production use, IONOS recommends migrating to Monitoring Service.
Quick Facts
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Type | Virtualization-layer monitoring (fully managed) |
| Scope | IONOS Cloud VMs, Cubes, and Dedicated Core servers only |
| Metrics Collected | CPU (average utilization), Network (ingress/egress bytes/packets), Storage (read/write bytes/IOPS) |
| Memory Metrics | Not available |
| Data Retention | Up to 2 weeks |
| Alerting | Threshold-based email notifications only |
| Cost | Free |
| Agent Installation | None required (virtualization-layer collection) |
| API Access | Telemetry API with Prometheus-compatible PromQL queries |
| Support Status | Limited support after September 1, 2024 (legacy product) |
Metrics Available
| Category | Metrics |
|---|---|
| CPU | Average utilization across all cores |
| Network | Ingress/egress bytes and packets for all NICs |
| Storage | Read/write bytes and I/O operations |
| Memory | Not available |
What You Can Do
Monitor Basic VM Performance
View CPU utilization, network traffic, and storage I/O metrics for any instance in a Virtual Data Center (VDC) via Data Center Designer (DCD) or API. Metrics appear approximately 10 minutes after provisioning.
Define Threshold-Based Alarms
Create alarms that trigger email notifications when CPU, network, or storage metrics exceed configured thresholds. Alarms support basic threshold logic for immediate resource spike detection.
Export Prometheus Metrics
Retrieve raw Prometheus-compatible metrics via the Telemetry API using PromQL queries. This enables integration with external monitoring systems or long-term storage solutions to extend retention beyond the two-week limit.
Monitor Without Agents
Collect metrics directly from the virtualization layer with zero client-side installation. MaaS works regardless of operating system, boot option, or instance type, providing instant visibility without configuration overhead.
Access Metrics Programmatically
Poll metrics via API for automated dashboards, custom alerting systems, or integration with third-party monitoring platforms. The API supports time-range queries for historical analysis within the two-week retention window.
Best For
| Scenario | Why It Fits |
|---|---|
| Simple VM-only workloads on IONOS Cloud | Automatically collects CPU, network, and storage metrics without agent installation |
| Fast proof-of-concept monitoring | Zero configuration; metrics available 10 minutes after VM provisioning |
| Budget-constrained projects | Completely free with basic resource visibility |
| Short-term test environments | Two-week retention sufficient for temporary or proof-of-concept workloads |
| Legacy environments unable to run agents | Virtualization-layer collection works on older OS images where agent installation is not feasible |
| Immediate resource spike detection | Email alerts for threshold breaches provide basic incident notification |
Consider Alternatives If
| If You Need... | Consider | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Custom or application-level metrics | Monitoring Service | Supports extensive metric types including host-based, application, network, server-pool, external-dependency, and business metrics |
| Multi-cloud or on-premise monitoring | Monitoring Service | Cloud-agnostic with Prometheus-compatible agents that work across IONOS, AWS, Azure, GCP, or on-premise infrastructure |
| Long-term retention or compliance | Monitoring Service | Configurable retention (weeks/months) with flexible sampling granularity for audit and trend analysis |
| Advanced alerting and dashboards | Monitoring Service | Full Grafana integration with custom dashboards, multi-channel notifications, and complex alert logic |
| Future-proof observability | Monitoring Service | Actively developed and maintained; MaaS receives limited support after September 1, 2024 |
| Memory metrics | Monitoring Service | MaaS does not collect memory utilization; Monitoring Service supports comprehensive host-based metrics |
| Security or compliance monitoring | Monitoring Service | Custom security metrics (failed logins, suspicious activity) with long-term audit-grade storage |
Key Considerations
Billing & Costs
- Main billing: Completely free
- No per-sample charges: Unlike Monitoring Service, MaaS has no usage-based billing
- Limitations: Free tier includes only basic metrics with two-week retention
Limitations
- Restricted to IONOS Cloud VMs, Cubes, and Dedicated Core servers (does not support other clouds, on-premise, containers, or IoT devices)
- Collects only CPU, network, and storage metrics (no memory, application-level, or custom metrics)
- Data retention limited to 2 weeks (older data is automatically purged)
- Alerting limited to email notifications only (no multi-channel alerts, webhooks, or integrations)
- No custom dashboards or visualization beyond basic DCD interface
- Very limited customization (out-of-the-box metrics only)
- Limited support and updates after September 1, 2024 (legacy product status)
- Cannot collect application-level metrics, business metrics, or security-related custom data
- Pipeline data feed "IONOS Telemetry" is available in Grafana
- Metric availability delay of approximately 10 minutes after instance provisioning
Management Options
- Data Center Designer (DCD) for basic metric viewing and alarm configuration
- Telemetry API for Prometheus-compatible PromQL queries
- API for programmatic metric retrieval and alarm management
- No agent configuration required (fully managed by IONOS)