Find below a summary of Datadog data collection, resolution, and retention:
| Source | Collection Methods | Collection interval | Minimum Resolution | Default Retention | Product Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| System metrics | Datadog Agent | 15 secs | 1 s | 15 months | Infrastructure |
| Agent integrations | Datadog Agent + enabled integrations | 15 secs | 1 s | 15 months | Infrastructure |
| Live Containers | Datadog Agent + enabled Docker integration or Datadog container Agent | 2 secs | 1 s | 36 hours | Infrastructure |
| Live Processes | Datadog Agent + Process Agent | 2 secs | 1 s | 36 hours | Infrastructure |
| Custom Metrics (Agent check) | Datadog Agent + custom Agent check | 15 secs | 1 s | 15 months | Infrastructure |
| Custom Metrics (StatsD) | Datadog Agent (built-in statsD collector) | 15 secs | 1 s | 15 months | Infrastructure |
| Custom Metrics (API) | POST directly to Datadog’s API | Real time | 1 s | 15 months | Infrastructure |
| Events | Datadog Agent, integrations, or API | Real time | 1 s | 15 months | Infrastructure |
| Traces (Sampled) | Datadog Agent + tracing library | Real time | 1 micro sec | See traces retention documentation | APM |
| Trace Metrics (Unsampled) | Datadog Agent + tracing library | Real time | 1 micro sec | 15 months | APM |
| Analyzed Spans (Unsampled) | Datadog Agent + tracing library + enabled logs | Real time | 1 micro sec | 2 Weeks | APM + Logs |
| Logs | Datadog Agent + Logs, 3rd party log collectors, or API | Real time | 1 micro sec | Plan | Logs |
| API Test metrics | Datadog Synthetics application | User-defined | 1 min | 15 months | Synthetics |
| API Test results | Datadog Synthetics application | User-defined | 1 min | Result seen in the UI by user: 15 months Failed result not seen in the UI by user: 1 month Successful result not seen in the UI by user: 15 days | Synthetics |
| Browser Test metrics | Datadog Synthetics application | User-defined | 5 min | 15 months | Synthetics |
| Browser Test results | Datadog Synthetics application | User-defined | 5 min | Result seen in the UI by user: 15 months Failed result not seen in the UI by user: 1 month Successful result not seen in the UI by user: 15 days | Synthetics |
| AWS | API crawler | 10 min (default) | 1 min | 15 months | Cloud |
| Azure | API crawler | 5 min (default) | 1 min | 15 months | Cloud |
| Google Cloud | API crawler | 5 min (default) | 1 min | 15 months | Cloud |
