The short answer
Grafana is a visualization layer, not a collector — you still need something gathering storage metrics behind it. Choose Rivana if you want the whole thing in one self-hosted tool: it collects per-device I/O latency and SMART data and shows the fleet dashboard and failure alerts itself, with no separate data source, exporters, or panels to build.
Side by side
| Detail | Rivana | Grafana |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Purpose-built storage-fleet monitoring | Dashboards & visualization layer |
| Per-device I/O latency | Per-device I/O latency distributions via eBPF (not just averages) | Whatever your data source provides |
| Drive-failure prediction | SMART degradation trends that flag drives before they fail | None itself — depends on the data source |
| Deployment | Self-hosted single binary — deploys in ~10 min, no cloud | Self-hosted or Cloud; needs a separate data source |
| Pricing | Per-device annual license (free 30-day trial) | Free OSS; paid Grafana Cloud tiers |
| Best for | Infra teams running 50–500 on-prem SSD/HDD drives, tired of guessing why latency degraded | Visualizing metrics you already collect |
Strengths & trade-offs
Rivana
Infra teams running 50–500 on-prem SSD/HDD drives, tired of guessing why latency degraded
Rivana is a self-hosted monitoring tool built specifically for storage fleets. A lightweight eBPF collector on each host captures real per-device I/O latency — full distributions, not just averages — alongside SMART attributes, temperature, and utilization, and the aggregator flags drives whose degradation trends predict failure. It installs as a single Rust binary in about ten minutes, runs entirely on your own infrastructure with no cloud dependency, and is licensed per monitored device.
Strengths
- Built only for storage — per-device latency, SMART, and degradation in one place
- eBPF captures real I/O latency distributions, not just averages
- Flags failing or slow drives from SMART trends before they cause an outage
- Self-hosted single binary — deploys in ~10 minutes, no cloud dependency
- Fleet-wide view of 50–500+ drives out of the box
Consider
- Storage-focused — not a general-purpose metrics platform
- Commercial per-device license (free 30-day trial, then paid)
- Linux hosts (the collector uses eBPF)
- Newer than the established monitoring stacks
Grafana
Visualizing metrics you already collect
Grafana is the popular open-source dashboarding and visualization layer — it makes metrics beautiful and explorable, but it doesn't collect anything itself. To monitor storage with Grafana you still need a data source (typically Prometheus with exporters) doing the collection, plus your own panels and alert rules; it has no native storage collection, latency-distribution capture, or drive-failure-prediction of its own.
Strengths
- Best-in-class dashboards and visualization
- Connects to almost any data source
- Free, open source, with a huge plugin ecosystem
- Flexible alerting on top of your metrics
Consider
- Visualization only — it doesn't collect storage metrics itself
- You still need a collector / data source (e.g. Prometheus + exporters)
- No storage-specific latency or failure-prediction model
- Storage dashboards are something you build
Frequently asked questions
Is Rivana a replacement for Grafana?
Grafana is a visualization layer, not a collector — you still need something gathering storage metrics behind it. Choose Rivana if you want the whole thing in one self-hosted tool: it collects per-device I/O latency and SMART data and shows the fleet dashboard and failure alerts itself, with no separate data source, exporters, or panels to build.
What storage devices and metrics does Rivana monitor?
Rivana monitors NVMe SSDs, SATA SSDs, and HDDs on Linux hosts. A lightweight eBPF collector captures per-device I/O latency distributions, SMART attributes, temperature, and utilization, and the aggregator surfaces fleet-wide dashboards plus degradation trends that flag drives likely to fail.
Does Rivana run on my own infrastructure?
Yes. Rivana is self-hosted: the aggregator installs as a single Rust binary in about ten minutes with an embedded database, and licenses are validated locally with no phone-home or internet dependency. Your storage telemetry never leaves your infrastructure.
See your storage fleet clearly
Deploy Rivana on your own infrastructure in about ten minutes. Free 30-day trial for up to 50 drives.
Start a free trialCompetitor capabilities and pricing are directional and were verified in June 2026 — check each project's or vendor's own site for current details. Rivana is an independent product and isn't affiliated with the tools compared here.