What is the purpose of ActiveGates in the Dynatrace system?

ActiveGates in the Dynatrace system are primarily designed to serve as data collectors. They play a crucial role in extending Dynatrace's capabilities by enabling communication between the Dynatrace platform and various monitored environments, especially in cases involving on-premises infrastructure or specialized environments such as cloud services and PaaS solutions.

As data collectors, ActiveGates facilitate the gathering of performance metrics, logs, and trace data from monitored applications and services. They can efficiently collect data from environments that might be behind firewalls or those that require special configurations, ensuring that the Dynatrace platform receives comprehensive and relevant performance information necessary for monitoring and analysis.

In addition to data collection, ActiveGates can also support other functionalities like proxying communication and facilitating integrations with various services and platforms, but their primary purpose remains rooted in effective data acquisition and relay to the Dynatrace core. This functionality is particularly beneficial for organizations with complex infrastructures needing robust monitoring solutions without compromising network security.