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# Databases

**Databases** are the datastores your instrumented services query, monitored in APM v2 as first-class **entities** alongside your services. Coralogix derives RED metrics (requests, errors, duration) from the database client spans your services emit, so a slow query or a failing datastore surfaces next to the services it affects, with no database agent to install. Select **Databases** in the sidebar to scope the catalog to databases, then open any database to drill into its operations.

Use it to:

* **Find the slow database behind a slow service**: rank a database's operations by the time they consume and surface the query dragging performance down.
* **Catch failing queries**: track query error rate and failures per second, per operation.
* **See which services hit a database**: read how many services call each operation, and which tables they touch.
* **Trace a query to its spans**: open any operation to inspect the individual query spans and the traces they belong to.

[![The Databases scope of the catalog: the Requests, Errors, and Latency overview widgets above the database table in its Health view, with the DB system filter in the sidebar.](/docs/assets/images/databases-catalog-health-c17b3431fcbf06a21a462e1abdfc98cd.webp)](https://coralogix.com/docs/assets/images/databases-catalog-health-c17b3431fcbf06a21a462e1abdfc98cd.webp)

## What you need[​](#what-you-need "Direct link to What you need")

* Coralogix [APM](https://coralogix.com/docs/user-guides/apm-v2/getting-started/apm-onboarding-tutorial.md) installed, with your services instrumented to emit spans.
* [Span Metrics](https://coralogix.com/docs/user-guides/apm-v2/getting-started/span-metrics.md) with database metrics enabled. The Span Metrics preset generates RED metrics for database client spans (the `db_compact_calls_total` metric), which is what makes your databases appear as entities. It is on by default in the latest [Coralogix Helm chart](https://github.com/coralogix/telemetry-shippers/blob/master/otel-integration/k8s-helm/Chart.yaml). Without this metric, Databases are unavailable in the new APM - your services are unaffected, and legacy APM remains available for databases until it arrives.
* Database client spans that follow the [OpenTelemetry database semantic conventions](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/specs/semconv/database/database-spans/), so Coralogix can identify the datastore, table, and operation:

| Attribute            | Populates                                                                                                             |
| -------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `db.system`          | The database system - for example `postgresql`, `mysql`, `mongodb`, `redis`. Also the catalog's **DB system** filter. |
| `db.namespace`       | The database (or namespace) being accessed.                                                                           |
| `db.collection.name` | The table or collection an operation reads or writes. Populates the **Table** column.                                 |
| `db.operation.name`  | The operation, such as `SELECT` or `findAndModify`.                                                                   |

## Databases in the catalog[​](#databases-in-the-catalog "Direct link to Databases in the catalog")

Databases appear in the [catalog](https://coralogix.com/docs/user-guides/apm-v2/services.md) alongside services. Select **Databases** in the sidebar to scope the catalog to databases only. The table then shows database-specific columns - query volume (**Queries**, **Total queries**), error rate, latency, and health - and the sidebar offers **Environment**, **Team**, **Health**, and **DB system** filters. Select a database to open its drilldown.

As in the [Services](https://coralogix.com/docs/user-guides/apm-v2/services.md) catalog, switch the table between its **Health** view (performance columns) and its **Ownership** view (the owning **Team**, SLO status, alerts, and cases).

[![The Databases scope in its Ownership view, showing the owning Team, SLO status, alerts, and cases per database.](/docs/assets/images/databases-catalog-ownership-240ffdd81bb1c6fccf4dc21b3b79f475.webp)](https://coralogix.com/docs/assets/images/databases-catalog-ownership-240ffdd81bb1c6fccf4dc21b3b79f475.webp)

## The database drilldown[​](#the-database-drilldown "Direct link to The database drilldown")

Databases expose a focused set of tabs:

* **Overview**: RED metrics for the database over the selected range.
* **Operations**: query performance per operation and table. See [Operations](https://coralogix.com/docs/user-guides/apm-v2/features/operations.md).
* **Errors**: failed queries grouped for triage. See [Errors](https://coralogix.com/docs/user-guides/apm-v2/features/errors.md).
* **Traces**: the spans and traces the database participates in. See [Traces](https://coralogix.com/docs/user-guides/apm-v2/features/traces.md).
* **Service map**: the database's place in your dependency graph. See [Service map](https://coralogix.com/docs/user-guides/apm-v2/features/service-map.md).

[![A database drilldown: the Overview section with Requests, Errors, and Latency by operation, and the Operations section ranking operations by time consumed.](/docs/assets/images/database-drilldown-1935612ca59f0873cae153a9da06fa19.webp)](https://coralogix.com/docs/assets/images/database-drilldown-1935612ca59f0873cae153a9da06fa19.webp)

## Olly AI[​](#olly-ai "Direct link to Olly AI")

Select **Olly AI** in the APM header, or press `Cmd+I` / `Ctrl+I`, to open the [Olly](https://coralogix.com/docs/user-guides/olly/ask-olly.md) drawer scoped to what you're viewing - the databases in view on the catalog, or the database you've drilled into - so you can ask what's slowing a query or driving failures without describing your view first.

## Next steps[​](#next-steps "Direct link to Next steps")

Open a service or database to explore its telemetry in the [entity drilldown](https://coralogix.com/docs/user-guides/apm-v2/entity-drilldown.md).

## Additional resources[​](#additional-resources "Direct link to Additional resources")

* [Introduction to Application Performance Monitoring](https://coralogix.com/docs/user-guides/apm-v2/getting-started/apm-onboarding-tutorial.md)
* [Span Metrics](https://coralogix.com/docs/user-guides/apm-v2/getting-started/span-metrics.md)
* [Services](https://coralogix.com/docs/user-guides/apm-v2/services.md)