diff options
author | Chris Akritidis <43294513+cakrit@users.noreply.github.com> | 2023-02-15 10:59:05 -0800 |
---|---|---|
committer | GitHub <noreply@github.com> | 2023-02-15 10:59:05 -0800 |
commit | 37a918ae2bc996fc881ab60042ae5a8f434f4c52 (patch) | |
tree | 175031204fe39707f468ee04ca7f19e04d8b97b0 /docs/dashboard/dimensions-contexts-families.md | |
parent | efa431c5b2ebac1d0b1b73c8517b45c8974106e0 (diff) |
Add renamed markdown files (#14540)
Add renamed files
Diffstat (limited to 'docs/dashboard/dimensions-contexts-families.md')
-rw-r--r-- | docs/dashboard/dimensions-contexts-families.md | 102 |
1 files changed, 102 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/docs/dashboard/dimensions-contexts-families.md b/docs/dashboard/dimensions-contexts-families.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..8cff019c09 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/dashboard/dimensions-contexts-families.md @@ -0,0 +1,102 @@ +<!-- +title: "Chart dimensions, contexts, and families" +description: >- + "Netdata organizes charts into dimensions, contexts, and families to automatically + and meaningfully organize thousands of metrics into interactive charts." +type: "explanation" +custom_edit_url: "https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/dashboard/dimensions-contexts-families.md" +sidebar_label: "Chart dimensions, contexts, and families" +learn_status: "Published" +learn_topic_type: "Concepts" +learn_rel_path: "Concepts" +--> + +# Chart dimensions, contexts, and families + +While Netdata's charts require no configuration and are [easy to interact with](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/dashboard/interact-charts.md), +they have a lot of underlying complexity. To meaningfully organize charts out of the box based on what's happening in +your nodes, Netdata uses the concepts of **dimensions**, **contexts**, and **families**. + +Understanding how these work will help you more easily navigate the dashboard, [write new +alarms](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/monitor/configure-alarms.md), or play around with the [API](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/web/api/README.md). + +For a refresher on the anatomy of a chart, see [dashboards and charts](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/dashboard/how-dashboard-works.md). + +## Dimension + +A **dimension** is a value that gets shown on a chart. The value can be raw data or calculated values, such as the +average (the default), minimum, or maximum. These values can then be given any type of unit. For example, CPU +utilization is represented as a percentage, disk I/O as `MiB/s`, and available RAM as an absolute value in `MiB` or +`GiB`. + +Beneath every chart (or on the right-side if you configure the dashboard) is a legend of dimensions. When there are +multiple dimensions, you'll see a different entry in the legend for each dimension. + +The **Apps CPU Time** chart (with the [context](#context) `apps.cpu`), which visualizes CPU utilization of +different types of processes/services/applications on your node, always provides a vibrant example of a chart with +multiple dimensions. + +![An example apps.cpu chart with many +dimensions](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1153921/114207816-a5cb7400-9911-11eb-8800-06f60b745f9c.png) + +The chart shows 13 unique dimensions, such as `httpd` for the CPU utilization for web servers, `kernel` for anything +related to the Linux kernel, and so on. In your dashboard, these specific dimensions will almost certainly be different. + +Dimensions can be [hidden](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/dashboard/interact-charts.md#show-and-hide-dimensions) to help you focus your +attention. + +## Context + +A **context** is a way of grouping charts by the types of metrics collected and dimensions displayed. It's kind of like +a machine-readable naming and organization scheme. + +For example, the **Apps CPU Time** has the context `apps.cpu`. A little further down on the dashboard is a similar +chart, **Apps Real Memory (w/o shared)** with the context `apps.mem`. The `apps` portion of the context is the **type**, +whereas anything after the `.` is specified either by the chart's developer or by the [**family**](#family). + +By default, a chart's type affects where it fits in the menu, while its family creates submenus. + +Netdata also relies on contexts for [alarm configuration](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/monitor/configure-alarms.md) (the [`on` +line](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/health/REFERENCE.md#alarm-line-on)). + +## Family + +**Families** are a _single instance_ of a hardware or software resource that needs to be displayed separately from +similar instances. + +For example, let's look at the **Disks** section, which contains a number of charts with contexts like `disk.io`, +`disk.ops`, `disk.backlog`, and `disk.util`. If your node has multiple disk drives at `sda` and `sdb`, Netdata creates +a separate family for each. + +Netdata now merges the contexts and families to create charts that are grouped by family, following a +`[context].[family]` naming scheme, so that you can see the `disk.io` and `disk.ops` charts for `sda` right next to each +other. + +Given the four example contexts, and two families of `sda` and `sdb`, Netdata will create the following charts and their +names: + +| Context | `sda` family | `sdb` family | +| :------------- | ------------------ | ------------------ | +| `disk.io` | `disk_io.sda` | `disk_io.sdb` | +| `disk.ops` | `disk_ops.sda` | `disk_ops.sdb` | +| `disk.backlog` | `disk_backlog.sda` | `disk_backlog.sdb` | +| `disk.util` | `disk_util.sda` | `disk_util.sdb` | + +## What's next? + +With an understanding of a chart's dimensions, context, and family, you're now ready to dig even deeper into Netdata's +dashboard. We recommend looking into [using the timeframe selector](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/dashboard/visualization-date-and-time-controls.md). + +If you feel comfortable with the [dashboard](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/dashboard/how-dashboard-works.md) and interacting with charts, we +recommend learning about [configuration](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/configure/nodes.md). While Netdata doesn't _require_ a complicated setup +process or a query language to create charts, there are a lot of ways to tweak the experience to match your needs. + +### Further reading & related information + +- Dashboard + - [How the dashboard works](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/dashboard/how-dashboard-works.md) + - [Interact with charts](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/dashboard/interact-charts.md) + - **[Chart dimensions, contexts, and families](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/dashboard/dimensions-contexts-families.md)** + - [Select timeframes to visualize](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/dashboard/visualization-date-and-time-controls.md) + - [Import, export, and print a snapshot](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/dashboard/import-export-print-snapshot.md) + - [Customize the standard dashboard](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/dashboard/customize.md) |