A new real-time analytics platform,Insights, which collects application data and customer intelligence has been released as a beta by New Relic. 

The software is based on New Relic’s Big Data database platform and is delivered as SaaS (software as a service) 

The data is accessible using the New Relic Query Language  (NRQL) and a new set of RESTful application programming interfaces. The idea is that when combined with the use of JSON, these will make it easier for your apps to share analytics results with other apps.

The announcement about the new beta says that New Relic Insights lets you collect data directly from your application using intelligent agents; store volumes of data and take advantage of a custom-built database to query metrics; and present visualizations and dashboards using NRQL, a SQL-like language that automatically generates data visualizations.

The API extends New Relic from an application performance monitor into a more general analytics platform. The designers say the key differentiator between their product and rival application analyzers is their custom database.

You’ll be allowed to store one billion metrics each week for free during the beta trial period, and the team at New Relic says over more than a trillion events have already been stored in the new product.

To begin to use New Relic Insights, all you need to do, so long as you’re using the New Relic APM for Ruby, PHP, Python, Java, or.NET, is to turn on HTTP capture. A Transaction event collects every server-side transaction processed by your application. The software captures standard page view and transaction attributes. You can also choose to define your own custom attributes to tell you more about your users or customers.

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