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Crafting Prompt Sandwiches for Generative AI

Large Language Models (LLMs) can give notoriously inconsistent responses when asked the same question multiple times. For example, if you ask for help writing an Elasticsearch query, sometimes the generated query may be wrapped by an API call, even though we didn’t ask for it. This sometimes subtle, other times dramatic variability adds complexity when integrating generative AI into analyst workflows that expect specifically-formatted responses, like queries.

Up to 70% metrics storage savings with TSDS enabled integrations in Elastic Observability

The latest versions of Elastic Observability’s most popular observability integrations now use the storage cost-efficient time series index mode for metrics by default. Kubernetes, Nginx, System, AWS, Azure, RabbitMQ, Redis, and more popular Elastic Observability integrations are time series data stream (TSDS) enabled integrations.

Elastic Search 8.9: Hybrid search with RRF, faster vector search, and public-facing search endpoints

Elastic Search 8.9 introduces hybrid search with Reciprocal Rank Fusion (RRF) to combine vector, keyword, and semantic techniques for better results. This release also brings performance improvements in vector search and ingestion with response times that are up to 30%+ faster. Users also have more ingestion options with the new SharePoint Online connector, which includes document-level security.

Understanding APM: How to add extensions to the OpenTelemetry Java Agent

As an SRE, have you ever had a situation where you were working on an application that was written with non-standard frameworks, or you wanted to get some interesting business data from an application (number of orders processed for example) but you didn’t have access to the source code?

Turning data into mission value in government and education

Government and education leaders estimate that data volume at their organizations will increase by 59% over the next three years. Although having more information than you need is (arguably) better than not having it when you need it, the sheer volume of data can make it challenging for teams to pinpoint exactly what data will bring value to their mission goals.

The hidden data challenges CIOs face on their quest to accelerate business outcomes

Navigating the complex terrain of IT systems, operational issues, and security breaches is no easy job, even for the seasoned CIO. And when tasked with the lofty goals of improving operational resilience, mitigating security risk, and enhancing customer experiences, dealing with the day-to-day operations is all the more challenging. Achieving these goals can often feel overwhelming, with no end to the journey in sight.

How to combine OpenTelemetry instrumentation with Elastic APM Agent features

Elastic APM supports OpenTelemetry on multiple levels. One easy-to understand scenario, which we previously blogged about, is the direct OpenTelemetry Protocol (OTLP) support in APM Server. This means that you can connect any OpenTelemetry agent to an Elastic APM Server and the APM Server will happily take that data, ingest it into Elasticsearch®, and you can view that OpenTelemetry data in the APM app in Kibana®.

Exploring Nginx metrics with Elastic time series data streams

Elasticsearch® recently released time series data streams for metrics. This not only provides better metrics support in Elastic Observability, but it also helps reduce storage costs. We discussed this in a previous blog. In this blog, we dive into how to enable and use time series data streams by reviewing what a time series metrics document is and the mapping used for enabling time series. In particular, we will showcase this by using Elastic Observability’s Nginx integration.

How to capture custom metrics without app code changes using the Java Agent Plugin

The Elastic APM Java Agent automatically tracks many metrics, including those that are generated through Micrometer or the OpenTelemetry Metrics API. So if your application (or the libraries it includes) already exposes metrics from one of those APIs, installing the Elastic APM Java Agent is the only step required to capture them. You'll be able to visualize and configure thresholds, alerts, and anomaly detection — and anything else you want to use them for!