Tink vs etcd
etcd is the Kubernetes key-value store. It also exposes Prometheus gauges on :2379/metrics — leader status, WAL fsync, MVCC size. That is not a mechanic. Tink installs in one command, watches the Linux server, explains what is wrong, and helps you fix it.
etcd scrapes consensus. Tink answers “why is this VPS sick?”
Accidental sysadmins land on etcd metrics because every Kubernetes diagram includes a scrape. Then the volume fills, nginx dies, and Grafana still shows a leader — no PromQL matched host fill. A filling /var is a Tink warning; it is not an etcd job unless the datastore itself is the failure.
Tink is the other job: detect the issue on the machine, say why it happened in plain English, propose the command, and run it only after you approve. Keep scraping etcd if you already operate Kubernetes and need consensus SLOs. Use Tink if you run Linux servers and want a mechanic.
| Feature | Tink | etcd |
|---|---|---|
| Setup time | 30 seconds (one curl | sh command) | Hours — etcd cluster, :2379/metrics, prometheus.yml scrape, dashboards, and Alertmanager |
| What you get | Working monitoring, diagnosis, and approved fixes | A consensus scrape target. Host disk fill, nginx, Postgres, and certs stay your problem until PromQL fires and you SSH in |
| Pricing | Free (Scout) / $9 / $29 per machine per month | Free software (Apache 2.0). You still pay for Prometheus, Grafana, Alertmanager, and the engineer who writes the rules |
| Hidden costs | None — fully managed | TLS client certs for the scrape, compact/defrag jobs, a noisy WAL fsync histogram, and a second tool to tell you the box is sick |
| Monitoring approach | Agent on the server — CPU, disk, services, logs, certs, ports | etcd_server_has_leader and etcd_mvcc_db_total_size_in_bytes. etcd does not watch host fill or a quiet cert unless you added another exporter |
| Configuration | None after install — heuristics and AI | scrape TLS, --listen-metrics-urls, compaction alarms, and which PromQL actually pages you |
| Plain-English diagnosis | Yes — AI explains root cause, impact, and fix | You graph etcd_disk_wal_fsync_duration_seconds in Grafana, then SSH in to change the box |
| Fix execution | Proposes and executes approved commands with an audit trail | Metrics only — etcd cannot free disk, restart nginx, or rotate a cert |
| Alerting | Built-in across 8 channels | Not an etcd job — Prometheus rules and Alertmanager have to fire |
| Predictive alerts | Yes — disk fills in ~6 days, memory and CPU trends | Not an etcd job — a KV scrape does not forecast a quiet volume filling up |
| SSH brute-force detection | Built-in — parses auth.log every scan | Never — etcd does not read auth.log, journald, or host firewall state |
| Machine offline detection | Agent presence monitoring with multi-channel alerts | Silence if etcd dies — unless you built an up{job="etcd"} deadman check |
| Public status page | Shareable URL with 90-day history | None — etcd has no customer-facing status page |
| Weekly fleet digest | Automated Monday digest + daily brief when issues are open | None — a KV scrape target is not a plain-English fleet narrative |
| On-call tracking | Built-in /oncall command + incident acknowledgment | Not included — wire Alertmanager into PagerDuty or another incident tool |
| Conversation interface | Telegram, WhatsApp, web dashboard, CLI | etcdctl and Grafana. No mechanic you text when /var filled and etcd still had a leader |
| Learning curve | None — works after install | Steep — etcdctl, WAL fsync SLOs, PromQL, scrape TLS, and which rule actually pages |
| Best for | Freelancers, small teams, accidental sysadmins (1-50 Linux servers) | Teams that already run Prometheus and need etcd scrapes, not a sick-VPS mechanic |
When etcd metrics are the right choice
Keep scraping etcd when you already want that exact job:
- Kubernetes control-plane SLOs — you need has_leader, WAL fsync, and DB size, not a mechanic.
- Consensus latency — peer RTT and fsync histograms matter more than host nginx, certs, and SSH on a quiet VPS.
- An existing Prometheus + Grafana stack — etcd already clusters, scrapes already run, and someone owns the compact job.
- Hosts that only page on etcd — you already run exporters and PromQL, not a sick-box SSH loop.
The real cost of “just scrape etcd”
etcd is in every Kubernetes monitoring diagram. A working ops loop for five Linux boxes is not:
- A healthy etcd_server_has_leader still means you SSH in and change the box by hand
- Host fill, nginx, certs, and SSH brute-force never appear unless Prometheus scraped those signals and a rule fired
- A filling /var is a Tink disk warning on every scan — etcd will stay quiet until the datastore itself is the failure
- A single VPS with a dead etcd still needs a mechanic, not another KV scrape
For a 5-server team, Tink Mechanic at $45/month is cheaper than etcd plus the engineer who keeps Prometheus scrapes and WAL fsync rules alive, and every scan includes a diagnosis a quiet :2379 /metrics page will not type.
No etcdctl homework. No silent host. One command install.
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