In the first part of this series, we explored how AppSignal can significantly enhance the robustness of Open edX platforms. We saw the challenges that Open edX faces as it scales and how AppSignal's features — including real-time performance monitoring and automated error tracking — provide essential tools for DevOps teams. Our walkthrough covered the initial setup and integration of AppSignal with Open edX, highlighting the immediate benefits of this powerful observability framework.

In Rails, we're more likely to use SQL databases than other frameworks. Unlike NoSQL databases, which can be scaled horizontally with relative ease, SQL databases like PostgreSQL or MySQL are much less amenable to easy scaling. As a result, our database usually becomes the primary bottleneck as our business grows. Although SQL databases are very efficient, as our growing customer base puts an increasing load on our servers, we begin scaling our instance counts, workers, etc.

We're excited to share that AppSignal has once again been recognized as one of the top performance and error monitoring tools in the 2024 Ruby on Rails Community Survey. This year, we maintained our position as the fifth most popular performance monitoring tool and climbed from seventh to fourth place in the error tracking rankings. This result means that AppSignal now stands shoulder-to-shoulder alongside some much larger competitors that are backed by a combined $600 million in venture capital funding.

AppSignal is excited to announce that we've given our charts a major makeover, making them more powerful and user-friendly. We've rebuilt our charts from the ground up.

Imagine stepping into the role of a DevOps engineer at an online learning company that utilizes Open edX as its core Learning Management System (LMS). As the platform scales to accommodate more learners, a myriad of challenges begin to surface: These are just the tip of the iceberg. It's pivotal that you provide timely reports on site performance and error tracking in real time, and fix any issues before they affect a significant user base.