docs-v2/content/platform/_index.md

---
title: Introduction to the InfluxData platform
description: The InfluxData platform is the leading modern time-series platform built for metrics and events.
aliases:
  - /platform/introduction
menu:
  platform:
    name: Introduction
weight: 1
---

**InfluxData platform** is the leading modern [time series](/platform/faq/#what-is-time-series-data) platform, built for metrics and events. Explore both versions of our platform below--[**InfluxData 1.x**](#influxdata-1-x) and [**InfluxDB 2.0**](#influxdb-2-0).

## InfluxData 1.x

The **InfluxData 1.x platform** includes the following open source components ([TICK stack](#influxdata-1-x-tick-stack)):

  - [Telegraf](#telegraf): collect data
  - [InfluxDB](#influxdb): store data
  - [Chronograf](#chronograf): visualize data
  - [Kapacitor](#kapacitor): process data and alerts

**InfluxData 1.x** also includes the following **commercial offerings**:

  - [InfluxDB Enterprise](#influxdb-enterprise)
  - [Kapacitor Enterprise](#kapacitor-enterprise)
  - [InfluxCloud 1.x](https://help.influxcloud.net) (hosted cloud solution)

## InfluxDB 2.0

The **InfluxDB 2.0 platform** consolidates components from the **InfluxData 1.x platform** into a single packaged solution, with added features and flexibility:

  - [InfluxDB 2.0 OSS](/influxdb/v2.0/get-started/): open source platform solution in a single binary
  - [InfluxDB Cloud 2.0](/influxdb/v2.0/get-started/) (**commercial offering**): hosted cloud solution

InfluxDB Enterprise 2.0 is in development.

## InfluxData 1.x TICK stack

### Telegraf

Telegraf is a data collection agent that captures data from a growing list of sources
and translates it into [InfluxDB line protocol format](/{{< latest "influxdb" "v1" >}}/write_protocols/line_protocol_reference/)
for storage in InfluxDB. Telegraf's extensible architecture makes it easy to
create [plugins](/{{< latest "telegraf" >}}/plugins/) that both pull data (input plugins) and push data (output plugins)
to and from different sources and endpoints.

### InfluxDB

InfluxDB stores data for any use case involving large amounts of timestamped data, including
DevOps monitoring, log data, application metrics, IoT sensor data, and real-time analytics.
It provides functionality that allows you to conserve space on your machine by keeping
data for a defined length of time, then automatically downsampling or expiring and deleting
unneeded data from the system.

### Chronograf

Chronograf is the user interface for the TICK stack that provides customizable dashboards,
data visualizations, and data exploration. It also allows you to view and manage
[Kapacitor](#kapacitor) tasks.

### Kapacitor

Kapacitor is a data processing framework that enables you to process and act on data
as it is written to InfluxDB. This includes detecting anomalies, creating alerts
based on user-defined logic, and running ETL jobs.

## InfluxData 1.x Enterprise versions

InfluxDB Enterprise and Kapacitor Enterprise provide clustering, access control, and incremental backup functionality for production infrastructures at scale. You'll also receive direct support from the InfluxData support team.

{{% note %}}
InfluxDB Enterprise and Kapacitor Enterprise are compatible with open source versions of Telegraf and Chronograf.
{{% /note %}}

### InfluxDB Enterprise

InfluxDB Enterprise provides functionality necessary to run a high-availability (HA) InfluxDB cluster, providing clustering, horizontal scale out, and advanced access controls, including:

- Hinted handoff
- Anti-entropy
- Fine-grained authorization
- Cluster profiling
- Incremental backups

#### Hinted handoff

Data is written across nodes using an eventually consistent write model.
All writes are added to the [Hinted Handoff Queue (HHQ)](/{{< latest "enterprise_influxdb" >}}/concepts/clustering/#hinted-handoff),
then written to other nodes in the cluster.

#### Anti-Entropy

InfluxDB Enterprise's
[Anti-Entropy (AE)](/{{< latest "enterprise_influxdb" >}}/administration/anti-entropy/)
process ensures data shards in the cluster are in sync. When "entropy" (out-of-sync
data) is detected, AE will repair the affected shards, syncing the missing data.

#### Fine-grained authorization

In InfluxDB Enterprise, fine-grained authorization can be used to control access
at the measurement or series levels rather than just the database level.

#### Cluster profiling

Enterprise meta nodes expose the `/debug/pprof` API endpoint that allows you to
profile and potentially diagnose performance bottlenecks in your cluster.

#### Incremental backups

InfluxDB Enterprise allows for incremental backups that write only newly added
data to existing backup files rather than backing up all data in a new backup.

### Kapacitor Enterprise

Kapacitor Enterprise provides functionality necessary to run a high-availability
Kapacitor cluster, including:

- Kapacitor cluster management
- Alert deduplication
- Secure communication

#### Kapacitor cluster management

Kapacitor Enterprise is packaged with `kapactorctl`, a command line client for creating
and managing Kapacitor clusters.

#### Alert deduplication

As alerts are triggered in a multi-node Kapacitor cluster, Kapacitor Enterprise
deduplicates alert data to prevent duplicate alert notifications from being sent.

#### Secure communication

Data is passed between InfluxDB and Kapacitor via subscriptions.
Kapacitor Enterprise includes configuration options that let you encrypt
communication between your Kapacitor Enterprise and InfluxDB Enterprise clusters.

<a class="btn" href="https://portal.influxdata.com/" target="\_blank">Try InfluxData Platform Enterprise</a>

## Get started

To get started with the **InfluxData 1.x** platform, see

[Installation and Configuration](/platform/installation)  
[Getting Started](/platform/introduction/getting-started)

To get started with the **InfluxDB 2.0** platform, see [**InfluxDB Cloud 2.0**](/influxdb/v2.0/get-started/) or [**InfluxDB 2.0 OSS**](/influxdb/v2.0/get-started/).