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Monitoring and Logging .NET Applications in Azure and AWS

Modern cloud-native .NET applications must be observable—not only running in the cloud but also providing deep visibility into performance, security, and user behavior. Monitoring and logging are critical practices that ensure apps remain reliable, performant, and secure in both Azure and AWS environments.

1. Why Monitoring and Logging Matter

  • Early Issue Detection: Catch performance degradation or errors before users are affected.

  • Performance Optimization: Identify slow database queries, bottlenecks, and scaling needs.

  • Security and Compliance: Track suspicious activities and maintain audit trails.

  • Business Insights: Understand how users interact with your .NET applications.

2. Monitoring and Logging in Azure

a. Azure Monitor

Azure Monitor provides a comprehensive monitoring solution for applications, infrastructure, and networks.

  • Collects metrics like CPU, memory, and request duration.

  • Supports auto-scaling decisions based on real-time performance.

builder.Services.AddApplicationInsightsTelemetry();

This single line in your Program.cs adds monitoring for your .NET app.

b. Azure Application Insights

  • Tracks requests, dependencies, exceptions, and custom events.

  • Offers distributed tracing for microservices.

  • Provides a rich dashboard with charts, KPIs, and alerts.

c. Azure Log Analytics

  • Centralized log storage and query engine.

  • Supports KQL (Kusto Query Language) for log analysis.

  • Useful for investigating production issues.

Example KQL query to find failed requests:

requests
| where success == false
| summarize count() by operation_Name, resultCode

3. Monitoring and Logging in AWS

a. Amazon CloudWatch

AWS’s primary monitoring and logging service.

  • Collects logs, metrics, and events from .NET apps.

  • Allows creation of dashboards and alarms.

Example metric filter (JSON):

{
  "filterName": "ErrorLogs",
  "logGroupName": "dotnet-app-logs",
  "filterPattern": "ERROR"
}

b. AWS X-Ray

  • Provides distributed tracing for microservices.

  • Identifies latency bottlenecks across services.

  • Visualizes call flows and dependencies.

c. AWS CloudTrail

  • Tracks API calls and activities for security and auditing.

  • Essential for compliance-focused .NET applications.

4. Best Practices for Monitoring .NET Apps in Cloud

  • Enable Structured Logging: Use libraries like Serilog or NLog with sinks for Azure and AWS.

  • Centralize Logs: Store logs in Azure Log Analytics or AWS CloudWatch Logs for easy querying.

  • Set Alerts: Configure alerts for performance anomalies (e.g., high response times).

  • Use Distributed Tracing: Connect requests across APIs, services, and databases.

  • Automate Dashboards: Build dashboards for DevOps teams to track SLAs and KPIs.

5. Conclusion

Both Azure and AWS provide powerful monitoring and logging services tailored to cloud-native .NET applications:

  • Azure Monitor + Application Insights is ideal for teams invested in Microsoft’s ecosystem.

  • AWS CloudWatch + X-Ray offers deep visibility for apps running on AWS infrastructure.

By adopting these tools, .NET developers can ensure their applications are stable, secure, and optimized—while providing clear visibility into every aspect of system health.

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