Originally published at norvik.tech Introduction Explore the importance of metric cardinality for small engineering teams and how it impacts their observability setup. Technical insights and real-world a… Understanding Metric Cardinality: A Definition In the context of observability, metric cardinality refers to the uniqueness of data points collected for a specific metric. High cardinality means a large number of unique values for a given dimension, while low cardinality implies fewer unique values. For small engineering teams, often ranging from 5 to 30 members, understanding this concept is crucial because it affects how metrics are stored, queried, and analyzed. The Mechanics of Metric Cardinality Metric cardinality works by categorizing data points into dimensions. For instance, if an e-commerce platform tracks user sessions, each unique user identifier could represent a dimension with high cardinality. In contrast, a simple status code (like HTTP status) would typically exhibit low cardinality.…