What is the difference between a process and a process group?

The distinction between a process and a process group lies in their definitions and the scope of what they represent in monitoring and management within Dynatrace.

A process is a single instance of a running application or service on a host. It operates independently, has its own lifecycle, and is identified by a unique process ID. In monitoring contexts, understanding the performance and behavior of individual processes is crucial, as this enables pinpointing issues specific to that instance.

In contrast, a process group aggregates multiple instances of a process that typically serve the same function. This grouping could include several instances running on multiple hosts, all of which fulfill the same application role or service. The purpose of defining process groups is to facilitate a broader view of performance and resource usage across these instances, making it easier to manage and optimize collective operations, especially in distributed environments.

This understanding allows administrators to differentiate between monitoring a single application instance and analyzing the overall health and performance of an entire group of similar processes operating together, often across various environments.