Introduction to Alerts

Alerts are a group of one or more alarms. An alert can notify the user when it activates and it can also trigger action plans. An alert activates when all its alarms are activated. An alarm activates when a metric passes a certain threshold. 

If you imagine a dashboard for your metrics, alarms are like red lights that light up when conditions change, for example, when there is a problem. Alerts are like a worker monitoring a group of alarms; when all the lights for the group are lit up, then the worker takes action and activates the alert.