prometheus metric nodeos_block_votes might not be too useful

[matthewdarwin]

Not sure nodeos_block_votes prometheus metric is too helpful... It changes faster (every block?) than the polling interval.

# HELP nodeos_block_votes votes incorporated into a block, -1 weak, 1 strong, 0 no vote
# TYPE nodeos_block_votes gauge
nodeos_block_votes{producer="eosnationftw"} 1
nodeos_block_votes{producer="littlerabbit"} 1
nodeos_block_votes{producer="zebugenereos"} 1
nodeos_block_votes{producer="spherespring"} 0
nodeos_block_votes{producer="rioblocksbra"} 1
nodeos_block_votes{producer="bighornsheep"} 1
nodeos_block_votes{producer="hungryolddog"} 1
nodeos_block_votes{producer="clevermonkey"} 1
nodeos_block_votes{producer="batinthedark"} 1
nodeos_block_votes{producer="hippopotamus"} 1
nodeos_block_votes{producer="amsterdamduo"} 1
nodeos_block_votes{producer="bigpolarbear"} 1
nodeos_block_votes{producer="lioninjungle"} 1
nodeos_block_votes{producer="dumpsterfire"} 1
nodeos_block_votes{producer="wealthyhorse"} 1
nodeos_block_votes{producer="gorillapower"} 1
nodeos_block_votes{producer="funnyhamster"} 1
nodeos_block_votes{producer="jumpingfrogs"} 1
nodeos_block_votes{producer="eosriobrazil"} 1
nodeos_block_votes{producer="ohtigertiger"} 1
nodeos_block_votes{producer="iliketurtles"} 1
nodeos_block_votes{producer="ivote4eosusa"} 1
nodeos_block_votes{producer="eosamsterdam"} 1
nodeos_block_votes{producer="eosphereiobp"} 0

[matthewdarwin]

two counters, by producer, would be better:

• number votes that should have been included in the block (using knowledge of schedule changes)
• number of votes that were actually included in the block

Doing a diff between these two numbers tells you how many votes are missing.

[bhazzard]

Matthew's suggestion would enable node operators to easily configure alerts that fire when voting falls below a configurable threshold. This will be important for monitoring in production to ensure continuous advancement of finality.

[bhazzard]

Made a new tracking issue here: #323