7 Grafana Books That Separate Experts from Amateurs

Featuring insights from Ajay Reddy Yeruva, Rob Chapman, and Eric Salituro, these Grafana books provide proven frameworks for mastering observability and dashboards.

Updated on June 25, 2025
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What if you could unlock the full power of Grafana to visualize and monitor complex data effortlessly? Grafana stands at the heart of modern observability, transforming raw metrics into actionable insights that keep systems running smoothly and businesses thriving. Today, mastering this platform is less optional and more crucial than ever.

Experts like Ajay Reddy Yeruva, who leverages over a decade in IT and serves as a Senior Software Engineer at Ritchie Bros., have shaped authoritative guides that dive deep into Grafana’s capabilities. Rob Chapman, with experience spanning Microsoft to Grafana itself, offers practical strategies for cloud observability, while Eric Salituro’s decades in data visualization bring clarity for beginners and pros alike.

While these expert-curated books provide proven frameworks, readers seeking content tailored to their specific Grafana experience, industry, or learning goals might consider creating a personalized Grafana book that builds on these insights. Tailored learning could accelerate your journey from novice to dashboard maestro with precision.

Best for advanced monitoring professionals
Ajay Reddy Yeruva brings over a decade of IT expertise to this work, blending his role as an Observability Subject Matter Expert with real-world experience at Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers America Inc. His credentials as a Senior IEEE member and Chartered IT Professional of BCS underline his authority. Driven by a commitment to empower IT professionals, he crafted this book to unlock Grafana's potential for data visualization and monitoring, guiding you through everything from dashboard creation to advanced monitoring techniques.
2023·332 pages·Grafana, Software Performance, Observability, Data Visualization, Performance Testing

What started as Ajay Reddy Yeruva's deep dive into observability technologies evolved into a thorough manual for mastering Grafana's full capabilities. You’ll learn precise skills like crafting custom dashboards, setting up alerts, and using Grafana Loki for log exploration, along with practical applications such as Kubernetes and AIOps monitoring. This book suits professionals aiming to elevate system monitoring and performance testing, providing detailed chapters on everything from data visualization fundamentals to advanced dashboard features. If your role demands clear, actionable insights from complex data streams, this guide equips you with the tools to make Grafana work effectively for you.

Published by BPB Publications
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Best for Kubernetes and cloud engineers
Rob Chapman is a seasoned IT engineer and founder of The Melt Cafe with two decades of experience working at companies like Microsoft and Grafana. His deep expertise with complex systems and passion for optimizing operational workflows drives this book, which guides you through implementing the LGTM stack for efficient observability. Drawing on his practical knowledge, Chapman helps you save time and resources by addressing monitoring challenges early in the development cycle, making this a valuable resource for anyone serious about mastering Grafana and cloud platform monitoring.
2024·356 pages·Grafana, Monitoring, Observability, Kubernetes, Cloud Platforms

Rob Chapman's extensive background in IT engineering and his work with major organizations like Microsoft and Grafana inform this detailed guide on observability using the LGTM stack. You learn to instrument applications and monitor cloud platforms such as Kubernetes, AWS, and Azure through practical examples that cover everything from logging with Loki to metrics with Mimir and Prometheus. The book also addresses advanced topics like AI-driven incident management and infrastructure as code automation, making it particularly useful if you manage complex systems and want to optimize observability costs and operational efficiency. While it requires some prior knowledge of DevOps and cloud concepts, the insights offered are precise and applicable for developers, SREs, and platform engineers aiming to enhance system visibility and control.

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Best for tailored mastery plans
This AI-created book on Grafana mastery is crafted based on your specific experience and what you want to achieve with dashboards and monitoring. You share your skill level, which features of Grafana interest you most, and your goals, so the book is tailored precisely to your learning needs. It streamlines the path through complex topics by focusing on what matters to you, making it easier to become confident and proficient in Grafana’s capabilities.
2025·50-300 pages·Grafana, Grafana Basics, Dashboard Design, Data Sources, Alerting Setup

This tailored book explores the intricacies of mastering Grafana dashboards and monitoring, focusing specifically on your interests and experience level. It reveals how to harness Grafana’s powerful visualization tools to create insightful, actionable dashboards that match your unique data environment. Covering foundational concepts like data sources and alerting, it gradually moves into advanced customization, performance tuning, and integration techniques, all personalized to your background and goals. By concentrating on the aspects most relevant to you, this guide transforms complex expert knowledge into clear, applicable guidance. This personalized approach ensures you build expertise efficiently while diving deep into the real-world applications of Grafana’s monitoring capabilities.

Tailored Guide
Dashboard Optimization
1,000+ Happy Readers
Best for mastering latest Grafana features
Eric Salituro brings over 30 years of IT experience, including two decades at studios like Pixar and DreamWorks, to this book. Now a Software Engineering Manager at Zendesk, he wrote this guide to help you unlock Grafana’s potential for data analytics. His deep background in developing a Python API toolkit for Grafana adds unique authority, ensuring you gain practical skills for building insightful dashboards and monitoring solutions.
2023·542 pages·Grafana, Data Visualization, Monitoring, Time Series, Dashboard Creation

After analyzing a wide range of data visualization tools, Eric Salituro developed this guide to demystify Grafana for beginners. You’ll learn to install and configure Grafana, connect it to data sources like Prometheus and Elasticsearch, and build interactive dashboards using panels such as Time Series and Bar Gauge. The book also explores advanced topics like alerting, user authentication, and dynamic templating, making it practical for business analysts and developers alike. If you’re aiming to master Grafana’s latest features for monitoring time-series data, this book offers a grounded, example-driven path without fluff.

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Best for hands-on beginners
Ronald McCollam brings a rich blend of full stack development and IT operations experience to this guide, drawing on his extensive background with open source software and hands-on system management. His expertise makes this book a practical resource for anyone looking to gain real-time control and visualization of their data through Grafana. McCollam’s approachable style and deep knowledge ensure you’ll understand how to deploy and manage complex dashboards effectively.
2022·388 pages·Grafana, Data Visualization, IT Operations, Dashboard Design, Alerting Systems

Drawing from decades in full stack development and IT operations management, Ronald McCollam crafted this manual to demystify Grafana for practitioners juggling complex data environments. You gain practical skills in deploying and administering Grafana across scales—from Raspberry Pi setups to multi-region cloud systems—and learn to build dynamic, real-time dashboards that turn raw data into clear insights. The book walks you through integrating diverse data sources and enterprise systems like LDAP, helping you automate alerts and dashboard deployments. If you're hands-on and want to quickly visualize and act on your data, this book serves your needs without fluff or unnecessary jargon.

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Best for foundational dashboard analytics
Eric Salituro is a recognized author and expert in data visualization and analytics. With extensive experience in the field, he has dedicated his career to helping professionals understand and utilize data effectively. His work focuses on practical applications of data analysis tools, making complex concepts accessible to beginners and advanced users alike.
2020·410 pages·Grafana, Data Visualization, Dashboarding, Time-Series Data, Monitoring

What started as a need to simplify time-series data monitoring became a detailed guide by Eric Salituro, whose expertise in data visualization shapes this book. You learn how to install and configure Grafana, integrate multiple data sources like Prometheus and Elasticsearch, and create dynamic dashboards that enhance your data analysis capabilities. The book walks you through advanced features such as alerting, user authentication, and multi-cloud monitoring, making it well-suited for anyone handling real-time data environments. If you're aiming to master interactive dashboards with practical examples from setup to administration, this book delivers a solid foundation without overwhelming technical jargon.

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Best for rapid skill building
This AI-created book on Grafana mastery is designed around your background, experience level, and learning goals. You share what aspects of Grafana you want to focus on and your skill level, and the book is crafted to guide you through a rapid, effective learning path. This personalized approach helps you navigate Grafana’s complexities without unnecessary detours, ensuring you build relevant skills efficiently and confidently.
2025·50-300 pages·Grafana, Grafana Basics, Dashboard Creation, Data Visualization, Alert Configuration

This personalized book explores Grafana through a tailored lens, focusing on your specific interests and goals to accelerate your learning journey. It covers core Grafana concepts such as data visualization, dashboard creation, and alert configuration, while also delving into advanced topics like cloud platform integration and performance monitoring. By aligning content with your background and objectives, it reveals how to build effective, customized dashboards and understand key observability principles. This tailored approach ensures you engage deeply with the aspects of Grafana most relevant to your needs, making complex topics accessible and actionable within a focused, 30-day learning plan.

AI-Tailored
Observability Focus
1,000+ Happy Readers
Best for embedded systems IoT developers
Alexander Koutmos has been writing software professionally for almost a decade and has worked primarily with Elixir since 2016. As a maintainer of several Elixir libraries and head of a software consultancy, his deep expertise in Elixir and embedded systems shaped this book. He wrote it to share practical methods for building reliable IoT solutions using Nerves, Phoenix, and Grafana, connecting embedded devices with powerful backend and visualization technologies in an accessible way.
2022·92 pages·Grafana, Software Development, DevOps, Embedded Systems, IoT

Drawing from Alexander Koutmos's extensive experience with Elixir since 2016 and his work maintaining Elixir libraries, this book methodically guides you through building a full-stack IoT weather station. You learn how to leverage the Nerves framework to create fault-tolerant embedded applications, integrate sensor data using Phoenix and Ecto, and visualize time-series data with Grafana and TimescaleDB. The book is particularly useful if you want to connect embedded systems with modern backend and visualization tools, offering concrete examples like assembling sensor hubs and structuring Nerves apps. If you aim to bridge Elixir's backend strengths with real-world IoT projects, this book will give you valuable hands-on insight, though it assumes some programming familiarity.

Published by Pragmatic Bookshelf
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Best for full-stack IoT programmers
Bernardo Ronquillo Japón is a recognized expert in IoT and programming, with extensive experience developing applications for edge devices and full-stack IoT systems. His work focuses on practical technology implementations, making complex concepts accessible to learners and professionals alike. This background uniquely qualifies him to guide you through creating IoT applications that integrate hardware and software, leveraging tools like Node-RED and Grafana to build effective monitoring solutions.
2022·242 pages·IOT Development, Grafana, Edge Devices, Node-RED, Raspberry Pi

Bernardo Ronquillo Japón offers a hands-on guide to building IoT applications using Node-RED, focusing on practical skills like programming Raspberry Pi devices and creating real-time data streams. You’ll learn to integrate tools such as Pusher, InfluxDB, and Grafana to monitor environmental data effectively, with clear examples that move from simulated models to actual hardware deployment. This book suits you if you’re an IoT engineer or embedded systems programmer looking to expand into low-code programming and full-stack IoT development. Chapters like data acquisition and real-time processing provide concrete steps to mastering IoT infrastructure and software management.

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Conclusion

Across these seven books, clear themes emerge: the critical role of observability in complex systems, the practical art of dashboard design, and the integration of Grafana into diverse environments from cloud platforms to IoT devices. Whether you’re wrestling with Kubernetes monitoring or building embedded sensor visualizations, these titles offer depth and actionable knowledge.

If you’re new to Grafana, starting with Ronald McCollam’s "Getting Started with Grafana" and Eric Salituro’s "Learn Grafana" guides lays a solid foundation. For professionals managing Kubernetes or cloud infrastructure, Rob Chapman's and Ajay Reddy Yeruva’s books provide targeted expertise. IoT developers will find Alexander Koutmos’s and Bernardo Ronquillo Japón’s works invaluable for bridging hardware and visualization.

Alternatively, you can create a personalized Grafana book to bridge the gap between general principles and your specific situation. These books can help you accelerate your learning journey, ensuring you harness Grafana’s full potential with confidence and skill.

Frequently Asked Questions

I'm overwhelmed by choice – which book should I start with?

Start with "Getting Started with Grafana" by Ronald McCollam for practical basics, then explore Eric Salituro's "Learn Grafana 7.0" to build your dashboard skills. These books lay a strong foundation before moving to advanced topics.

Are these books too advanced for someone new to Grafana?

Not at all. Titles like "Getting Started with Grafana" and "Learn Grafana 7.0" are designed for beginners, offering clear, step-by-step guidance without heavy jargon.

Do these books assume I already have experience in Grafana?

Some do, especially those covering advanced observability like Ajay Yeruva’s book. But others, like Eric Salituro’s and Ronald McCollam’s guides, start with the basics for newcomers.

Which books focus more on theory vs. practical application?

Rob Chapman's "Observability with Grafana" blends practical cloud monitoring techniques with underlying observability concepts. Meanwhile, "Build a Weather Station with Elixir and Nerves" offers hands-on IoT application development.

Are any of these books outdated given how fast Grafana changes?

The included books like "Learn Grafana 10.x" reflect the latest features, while earlier editions still provide valuable foundational knowledge applicable across versions.

Can I get a Grafana book tailored to my specific needs or experience level?

Yes! While these books deliver expert insights, you can create a personalized Grafana book tailored to your background, goals, and focus areas for a more efficient learning path.

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