diff --git a/templates/config.alloy.erb b/templates/config.alloy.erb
index 3e311b1..2208222 100644
--- a/templates/config.alloy.erb
+++ b/templates/config.alloy.erb
@@ -76,12 +76,18 @@ discovery.relabel "node_exporter" {
 
 // 3. Scrape the properly labeled targets
 prometheus.scrape "node_exporter" {
-  targets         = discovery.relabel.node_exporter.output
-  forward_to      = [prometheus.remote_write.prometheus.receiver]
-  scrape_interval = "15s"
+  targets                     = discovery.relabel.node_exporter.output
+  forward_to                  = [prometheus.remote_write.prometheus.receiver]
+  scrape_interval             = "15s"
+  honor_timestamps            = true
+  track_timestamps_staleness  = true
 }
 
 prometheus.remote_write "prometheus" {
+  external_labels = {
+    // makes every series from this Alloy unmistakably unique
+    alloy_instance = constants.hostname,
+  }
   endpoint {
     url = "<%= @ay_prom_url %>"
     basic_auth {