Question 1

What does Managed Grafana Hosting at merkaio include?

Accepted Answer

Our managed service includes the provisioning, configuration and continuous operation of your Grafana instance. We handle the underlying server infrastructure, connection to your data sources (e.g., InfluxDB, PostgreSQL, Prometheus), user management, regular updates and security patches. You get a fully functional, high-performance dashboarding tool without having to worry about maintenance.

Question 2

Is Grafana only for monitoring or also suitable for IoT data?

Accepted Answer

Grafana has its roots in IT monitoring but has become the de-facto standard for IoT dashboards. Thanks to plugins for geomaps, time series and status panels, it's excellent for visualizing sensor data (temperature, fill levels, GPS) in real-time. We optimize your instance specifically for IoT workloads and telemetry data.

Question 3

Do I own the Grafana configuration (vendor lock-in)?

Accepted Answer

Yes, absolutely. We use the open-source version of Grafana (or Enterprise on request). All dashboards (JSON models), alerting rules and configurations belong to you. You can export them at any time and continue operating on your own instance. There is no proprietary lock-in with merkaio.

Question 4

Which data sources do you support?

Accepted Answer

We support all common data sources that Grafana can natively connect to. In the IoT context, we frequently operate and connect InfluxDB (time series), Prometheus (metrics), PostgreSQL / TimescaleDB (relational data & time series) and Elasticsearch (logs). We help you choose the right database for your use case.

Question 5

Can I display ChirpStack data directly in Grafana?

Accepted Answer

Indirectly yes, and this is a standard pattern at merkaio. ChirpStack typically doesn't store data long-term. We configure an integration pipeline (e.g., via MQTT Telegraf or direct database write) that writes data from ChirpStack to a database (e.g., InfluxDB). Grafana then accesses this database to display history and real-time values.

Question 6

Does merkaio also support Grafana plugins?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Grafana thrives on its plugin ecosystem (e.g., Worldmap Panel, Clock Panel, MQTT Data Source). As part of managed hosting, we install and maintain verified and community-supported plugins that are necessary for your dashboards, and check them for compatibility during updates.

Question 7

How performant is Grafana with large data volumes?

Accepted Answer

Grafana's performance heavily depends on the underlying database and queries. As operations partner, we optimize not only Grafana but also database performance (e.g., retention policies, downsampling in InfluxDB) so that dashboards load quickly even with millions of data points.

Question 8

Can I use Grafana for alerting?

Accepted Answer

Yes, this is a core feature. We configure Grafana Alerting to notify you when thresholds are exceeded (e.g., "Cold chain > 8°C"). Alerts can be sent via email, Slack, Microsoft Teams, PagerDuty or via webhooks to third-party systems.

Question 9

Does merkaio also monitor Grafana's availability itself?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. We monitor the uptime and performance of the Grafana instance around the clock (24/7). If the service fails or response times become critical, our incident management kicks in, often before you notice. This is part of our SLA promise.

Question 10

How secure is access to my dashboards?

Accepted Answer

We secure Grafana by default with SSL/TLS encryption. Additionally, we implement IP whitelisting or VPN access on request. Grafana also offers a granular permission system: We can set up user groups (Viewer, Editor, Admin) or connect Grafana to your existing identity provider (SSO via LDAP, OAuth, Google, Azure AD).

Question 11

Where is my data stored? (Data privacy)

Accepted Answer

As with all merkaio services, we host by default in data centers in Germany or the EU to ensure GDPR compliance. The data doesn't leave the jurisdiction unless you explicitly request hosting in another region (e.g., US/APAC) for global projects.

Question 12

Who handles security updates?

Accepted Answer

That's our job. Grafana regularly releases updates to close security vulnerabilities (e.g., CVEs). We patch your instance promptly and in a controlled manner. This keeps your dashboarding tool secure without tying up your IT resources.

Question 13

Do you also build dashboards for us?

Accepted Answer

Our managed hosting primarily focuses on operating the platform. However, through our merkaio dev division, we also offer the creation of individual, complex dashboards as a service. We design panels, optimize queries and build drill-down workflows according to your requirements.

Question 14

Can we import existing Grafana dashboards?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Grafana dashboards are based on JSON files. If you've already built dashboards locally or in another environment, we can import them. We check whether the data source links need to be adjusted so everything works in the new managed environment.

Question 15

What happens when scaling? (More users, more data)

Accepted Answer

Our hosting model grows with you. When you onboard more users or data volume increases, we scale the resources (RAM, CPU) of the Grafana instance and databases vertically. You don't need to move to a new server; we adjust capacity in the background.

	Self-Hosted	SaaS-only
Setup & Configuration	Own team required	Quick, but limited	Professional, custom
Ongoing operations	Entirely yourself	Managed, little control	Managed & transparent
Updates & Security	Manual, often forgotten	Automatic, no influence	Automatic & controlled
Scaling	Complex	Limited	Seamless
Support & SLA	No SLA	Standard support	Dedicated support
Cost model	Hidden costs	Pay-per-user	Transparent fixed prices

Grafana HostingManaged Operations

What is Grafana?

Why operating Grafana in production is challenging

Unclear architecture

Performance issues

Backup & Recovery

Unreliable alerting

Updates & responsibility

Managed Grafana by merkaio

Grafana for IoT dashboards & alerting

ChirpStack

Prometheus

InfluxDB

Custom APIs

Reference architecture & data flow

IoT Devices & Gateways

ChirpStack Network Server

Data Pipeline

Time-Series Backend

Grafana Dashboards

Integrated with the merkaio stack

ChirpStack Managed Hosting

ThingsBoard Managed Hosting

Alerting, reliability & SLAs

SLA-backed operations

Who is Grafana Managed Hosting for?

IoT Platforms

Teams without monitoring expertise

Global Deployments

Open Source Focus

Grafana: Self-Hosted vs. SaaS vs. merkaio

FAQ – Grafana Managed Hosting & IoT Visualization

Build and operate your Grafana platform