Measuring Docker Performance — SuperComputing.dk

Why NetData?

NetData is a lightweight, open-source real-time monitoring tool that runs as a Docker container. It requires zero configuration and produces interactive dashboards accessible from any browser.

Docker Hub: hub.docker.com/r/netdata/netdata

Deploy NetData to All Nodes

NetData must be deployed to every node individually (it monitors the host it runs on). Use this docker-compose.yml:

netdata-compose.yml — deploy on each node

version: '3'
services:
  netdata:
    image: netdata/netdata
    hostname: MASTER   # change per node: MASTER, SLAVE1, SLAVE2, SLAVE3
    ports:
      - 19999:19999
    cap_add:
      - SYS_PTRACE
    security_opt:
      - apparmor:unconfined
    volumes:
      - /proc:/host/proc:ro
      - /sys:/host/sys:ro
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro

Run docker-compose up -d (or add to your stack deploy) on each Pi, changing the hostname: value to match the node name.

Access the Dashboards

Node	NetData URL
MASTER	`http://192.168.0.23:19999`
SLAVE1	`http://192.168.0.17:19999`
SLAVE2	`http://192.168.0.18:19999`
SLAVE3	`http://192.168.0.19:19999`

What NetData Monitors

CPU utilisation per core
RAM and swap usage
Disk I/O (read/write throughput and latency)
Network interface traffic (eth0, docker0, overlay)
Per-container CPU, memory and network stats
System load average and process counts
Temperature sensors (via vcgencmd plugin)

🚫

Do NOT install a conventional Linux firewall on any Docker host. Docker uses Netfilter iptables for both overlay networking and NAT. ufw/iptables-based firewalls will conflict with Docker's rules and can silently break the installation.

⚠️

For production deployments, review the NetData docs for SSL/TLS configuration and authentication before exposing the dashboard to the internet.