This article discusses General Dimensions in Kentik.
Note: As of May 1st, 2025, the Query SQL Method has been deprecated and is no longer supported.
About General Dimensions
General Dimensions in Kentik allow you to filter and group data based on device metrics that are non-flow-related, such as SNMP or Streaming Telemetry. Unlike Routing Dimensions, these fields provide context regarding device identity, interface properties, and cloud-specific metadata.
Where to Find Dimensions
The dimensions available in the Query sidebar of Data Explorer vary based on the device category (e.g., Router vs. Host) and the specific device type (see Supported Device Types).
If you cannot find a specific dimension in this article, refer to Kentik’s specialized references:
Traffic Routing: See Routing Dimensions (ASNs, BGP paths, etc.).
Device Health: See Device Metrics Dimensions (CPU, Memory, etc.).
Specific Hardware: See Device-Specific Dimensions (Vendor-specific attributes).
Understanding Column Types
To optimize query performance, it is important to understand how Kentik stores and retrieves these dimensions:
Column Type | Description | Performance Impact |
|---|---|---|
Native | Stored directly in the Kentik Data Engine (KDE). | Fastest: Best for high-volume filtering. |
Virtual | Derived from other KDE-stored data at query-time. | Standard: May impact speed on very large time ranges. |
UDR | Part of our Universal Data Records framework. | Flexible: Used for modern host and cloud decodes. |
TIP: Naming Note: Throughout these tables, the Portal Name refers to the label used in the UI, while the KDE Name is the underlying column name required when using Kentik APIs.
Network and Traffic Topology
Dimensions in this category are used to filter or group-by on device properties, including interface names, descriptions, and port IDs.
Dimension Mapping in the Portal
In the Kentik Portal, some dimensions are represented differently in the Dimension Selector (used for Group By and Matrix) compared to how they appear in Filtering.
Note: When using the Dimension Selector Dialog, keep the following mappings in mind:
Device: Used to select Device Name.
Interface: Used to select Interface Name and Interface Description.
Traffic Origination / Termination: Represented as two distinct dimensions for filtering.
Ultimate Exit Interface: Used to select Ultimate Exit Interface Name and Description.
Device Info Dimensions
These dimensions provide metadata related to physical/logical devices (see About Devices):
Dimension Name (Portal) | Description | Type: | Direction KDE name(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
Device ID | Kentik-assigned unique numerical ID of the device (see Device General Settings). | string | Non-directional: |
Device Name | User-defined name for the device (see Device General Settings). | string | Non-directional: |
Device Type | Type of device: router, host, etc. (see Supported Device Types).
| string | Non-directional: |
Device Sample Rate | The ratio of total flows per sampled flow (see Device Flow Settings). | string Virtual | Non-directional: |
Site | Name of the site to which the device has been assigned (see About Sites). If the device hasn't been assigned to a site, returns an empty string.
| string | Non-directional: |
Site Market | Name of the site market to which the device has been assigned (see About Site Markets). If the device hasn't been assigned to a site market, returns an empty string. | string | Non-directional: |
Device Labels | A label assigned to a collection of devices (see About Labels). | string | Non-directional: |
Interface Info Dimensions
Dimensions related to physical/logical interfaces through which traffic enters or exits your devices (see About Interfaces):
Dimension Name (Portal) | Description | Type: | Direction KDE name(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
Interface ID | ID of the receiving/sending host or router interface (see Interface Field Definitions). | int | Src/Dst: |
Interface Name | The Name (e.g. “GigabitEthernet0/1”) of the device interface (physical or logical) through which flow ingressed/egressed (see Interface Field Definitions). | string | Src/Dst: |
Interface Description | The Description (e.g. “Connected to upstream ISP”) of the device interface (physical or logical) through which flow ingressed/egressed (see Interface Field Definitions). | string | Src/Dst: |
Interface Capacity | The speed of the device interface through which flow ingressed/egressed (see Interface Field Definitions). | bigint | Src/Dst: |
Interface Classification Dimensions
Classification dimensions allow you to categorize traffic by business logic, such as identifying whether traffic is traversing a peering link versus a transit link. For setup details, see Interface Classification.
Dimension Name (Portal) | Description | Type: | Direction KDE name(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
Connectivity Type | The connectivity type, such as transit, IX peering, etc., of the source/destination interface of this flow (see Connectivity Type Attribute). | string | Src/Dst:
|
Network Boundary | The network boundary value (internal or external) of the source/destination interface of this flow (see Network Boundary Attribute). | string | Src/Dst: |
Provider | A string representing the provider via which source/destination traffic over a given interface reaches the Internet (see About Provider Classification). | string | Src/Dst: |
Network Classification Dimensions
Dimensions in this category help you identify the flow’s relationship to your network boundaries, specifically whether traffic is staying internal, entering from the outside, or leaving your network. For a deeper dive into the logic, see Network Classification.
Dimension Name (Portal) | Description | Type: | Direction KDE name(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
Traffic Orig/Term | Indicates the location (inside or outside) of the source/destination of the flow | string | Src/Dst: |
Host Direction | If flow record is from host, indicates whether the direction of traffic is into or out of that host. | string | Non-directional: |
Traffic Profile | The origination and termination of the flow. | string | Non-directional: |
Simple Traffic Profile | Alternate dimension for origination and termination of the flow. | string | Non-directional: |
Note: For more technical details on how these are calculated, see Network Classification Dimensions.
Ultimate Exit Dimensions
Dimensions in this category identify the specific interface and device through which traffic leaves your network to reach an external destination (e.g., a peering partner or transit provider). For a detailed explanation of the underlying logic, see Using Ultimate Exit.
Dimension Name (Portal) | Description | Type: | Direction KDE name(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
Ultimate Exit Interface ID | Number of ports through which the flow leaves (see Network Classification Dimensions). | bigint | Non-directional: |
Ultimate Exit Interface Name | The SNMP description (portal name) of the interface through which the flow leaves (see Network Classification Dimensions). | string | Non-directional: |
Ultimate Exit Interface Description | The SNMP alias (portal description) of the interface through which the flow leaves (see Network Classification Dimensions). | string | Non-directional: |
Ultimate Exit Connectivity Type | The connectivity type value of the interface through which traffic left the network for another AS (see Network Classification Dimensions). | string | Non-directional: |
Ultimate Exit Network Boundary | The network boundary value of the interface through which traffic left the network for another AS (see Network Classification Dimensions). | string | Non-directional: |
Ultimate Exit Provider | A string representing the ultimate exit provider (see Why Ultimate Exit). | string | Non-directional: |
Ultimate Exit Site | The name of the site through which the flow leaves (see Why Ultimate Exit). | string | Non-directional: |
Ultimate Exit Site Market | The name of the site market through which the flow leaves (see Why Ultimate Exit). | string | Non-directional: |
Ultimate Exit Device ID | The numerical ID of the device through which the flow leaves (see Why Ultimate Exit). | string | Non-directional: |
Ultimate Exit Device | The name of the device through which the flow leaves (see Why Ultimate Exit). | string | Non-directional: |
LAN Dimensions
Dimensions in this category provide visibility into the Layer 2 (Data Link) properties of your network traffic, allowing you to filter by VLAN IDs and hardware-specific MAC addresses.
Dimension name (portal) | Description | Type: | Direction KDE name(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
VLAN | ID of receiving/sending VLAN. | int | Src/Dst: |
MAC Address | Ethernet (L2) address of source/destination. | string | Src/Dst: |
Cloud Dimensions
These dimensions are used to filter or group-by on fields within VPC flow logs from cloud providers. They allow you to treat cloud resources (like Instances or Subnets) with the same granularity as physical hardware.
General Cloud Dimensions
The following dimensions are applicable across all cloud providers supported by Kentik (e.g., AWS, GCP, or Azure).
Dimension Name (Portal) | Description | Type: | Direction KDE name(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
Cloud Provider | The cloud provider (e.g., AWS, GCP, or Azure) from which Kentik retrieved the flow log containing the data in this flow record. | string | Non-directional: |
AWS Dimensions
The following dimensions represent metadata extracted from Amazon VPC Flow Logs (see Kentik for AWS). For a complete list of field definitions, refer to the Amazon VPC User Guide.
Directional AWS Dimensions
These fields allow you to filter based on whether the AWS resource is the Source or Destination of the traffic.
Dimension Name (Portal) | Description | Type: | Direction KDE name(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
Account ID | Source/destination AWS account identifier | int | Src/Dst: |
Account Alias | Source/destination AWS account alias | string Virtual | Src/Dst:
|
Account Name | Source/destination AWS account name | string Virtual | Src/Dst:
|
Instance Name | Source/destination AWS instance name | string | Src/Dst: |
Instance | Source/destination AWS instance | string | Src/Dst: |
Region | Source/destination AWS Region | string | Src/Dst: |
Zone ID | Source/destination AWS Availability Zone identifier | string Virtual | Src/Dst:
|
Zone Name | Source/destination AWS Availability Zone name | string | Src/Dst: |
Instance Type | Source/destination AWS Instance Type | string | Src/Dst:
|
Image ID | Source/destination AWS Image ID | string | Src/Dst: |
Security Group | Source/destination security group | string | Src/Dst: |
Auto Scaling Group | Source/destination auto scaling group | string | Src/Dst: |
Public DNS Name | Source/destination public DNS name | string | Src/Dst: |
Private DNS Name | Source/destination private DNS name | string | Src/Dst: |
VPC ID | Source/destination VPC ID | string | Src/Dst: |
Subnet ID | Source/destination subnet ID | string | Src/Dst: |
Instance Tags | Tags applied to VMs by users | string | Src/Dst: |
Packet Address | The packet-level (original) source/destination IP address of the traffic. See pkt-srcaddr/pkt-dstaddr in AWS documentation. | bytes/IP Address | Src/Dst: |
Gateway ID | The ID of the gateway through which the flow entered your AWS resources. | string | Dst only: |
Gateway Type | The type of the gateway through which the flow entered your AWS resources | string | Dst only: |
Forwarding State | The route state of the destination prefix:
| string | Dst only: |
Interface ID | The ID (inferred from IP address) of the first (for source) or last (for destination) Elastic Network Interface on which the flow was recorded. | string | Src only: |
Interface Type | The type of the network interface that recorded the flow:
| int | Src/Dst: |
AWS Service | The name of the subset of IP address ranges for the pkt-srcaddr field, if the source IP address is for an AWS service. For possible values see pkt-src-aws-service in AWS documentation. | int | Src/Dst: |
ENI Description | The description field of the Elastic Network Interface that recorded the flow. | string | Src/Dst: |
ENI Entity Name | The name of the entity based on the Elastic Network Interface that recorded the flow. | string | Src/Dst: |
AWS TGW AZ ID | The ID of the transit gateway availability zone. | string | Src/Dst: |
AWS TGW ENI | The Elastic Network Interface of the transit gateway. | string Virtual | Src/Dst: |
AWS TGW Subnet ID | The subnet ID of the transit gateway. | string Virtual | Src/Dst: |
AWS TGW VPC ID | The VPC ID of the transit gateway. | string Virtual | Src/Dst: |
AWS TGW VPC Account ID | The VPC account ID of the transit gateway. | bigint Virtual | Src/Dst: |
Non-directional AWS Dimensions
These fields describe the status or path of the flow as recorded by AWS.
Dimension Name (Portal) | Description | Type: | KDE name(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
Firewall Action | The action associated with the traffic:
| string |
|
Logging Status | The logging status of the flow log:
| string |
|
Start Time | The time, in Unix seconds, when the first packet of the flow was received within the aggregation interval. This might be up to 60 seconds after the packet was transmitted or received on the network interface. | bigint |
|
End Time | The time, in Unix seconds, when the last packet of the flow was received within the aggregation interval. This might be up to 60 seconds after the packet was transmitted or received on the network interface. | bigint |
|
Observing Interface ID | The ID of the network interface that recorded the flow. | string |
|
Flow Log Account ID | The AWS account ID of the owner of the source network interface that recorded the flow.
| string |
|
Flow Direction | The direction of the flow with respect to the interface where traffic is captured:
| string |
|
Traffic Path | The path that egress traffic (see Flow Direction) takes to the destination:
| int |
|
Cloud Ultimate Exit | The last gateway the flow will traverse on its way to the destination IP address. | string |
|
Cloud Ultimate Exit Type | The type of the last gateway the flow will traverse on its way to the destination IP address:
| string |
|
Observing VPC ID | The ID of the observing VPC. | string |
|
Observing VPC Subnet ID | The ID of the observing VPC subnet. | string |
|
Observing Instance ID | The ID of the observing instance. | string |
|
Observing Region | The ID of the observing region. | string |
|
Observing Availability Zone ID | The ID of the observing availability zone. | string |
|
Observing Sublocation ID | The ID of the observing subscription. | string |
|
AWS Resource Type | The type of AWS resource being observed such as EC2, RDS, etc. | string |
|
AWS TGW Attachment ID | The ID of the transit gateway attachment. | string |
|
AWS TGW ID | The ID of the transit gateway. | string |
|
AWS TGW Pair Attachment ID | The ID of the paired transit gateway attachment. | string |
|
AWS Packets Lost - Blackhole | The number of packets lost due to blackhole routing. | int |
|
AWS Packets Lost - MTU Exceeded | The number of packets lost because the packet size exceeded the MTU. | int |
|
AWS Packets Lost - No Route | The number of packets lost due to the absence of a valid route. | int |
|
AWS Packets Lost - TTL Expired | The number of packets lost because the TTL expired. | int |
|
Azure Dimensions
Dimensions in this category allow you to analyze traffic within your Azure Virtual Networks (VNets), providing visibility into VMs, Resource Groups, and security rules (see Kentik for Azure).
Directional Azure Dimensions
These fields allow you to filter based on whether the Azure resource is the Source or Destination of the traffic.
Dimension Name (Portal) | Description | Type: | Direction KDE name(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
Instance Name | The name of the Azure instance (VM) that generated the flow log. | string | Src/Dst: |
Instance | The raw ID of the log-generating instance, which is useful for programmatic management of compute resources. | string | Src/Dst: |
Region | The geographical region of the Azure instance, which corresponds to a specific set of Azure data centers in which the instance may run. | string | Src/Dst: |
Zone | The High Availability Zone where the instance is currently deployed, which corresponds to a specific data center within a region. | int | Src/Dst: |
Instance Type | The kind of instance-generated flow logs, which may be Azure-provided or custom-built. These values do not follow a standard naming nomenclature. | string | Src/Dst: |
Public DNS Name | The publicly resolvable DNS name for an instance. | string | Src/Dst: |
VNet ID | An identifier for the virtual network object in which an instance resides. A virtual network is a collection of subnets within a given region. | string | Src/Dst: |
Subnet Name | The name of a subnet resource assigned to a virtual network. | string | Src/Dst: |
Resource Group | A set of related technical resources (disk, storage, VMs, APIs, services, etc.) that can be accessed as a group for bulk operations. | string | Src/Dst: |
Public IP Address | The public IP address assigned to an Azure instance. Public IP addresses are not assigned by default. | string | Src/Dst: |
Subscription | A top-level administrative object representing a set of resources that will be billed together in a monthly cycle. All Azure resources are tied to a subscription, which may contain multiple resource groups. | string | Src/Dst: |
Security Rule | The name of the security rule by which this flow was allowed or denied as it passed through a security group (see below) on its way to or from an Azure instance. | string | Src/Dst: |
Firewall Action | The actions (allow or deny) taken on this flow by the security rules by which it was evaluated on the way to or from an Azure instance. | string | Src/Dst: |
Security Group | A collection of enforced security policies (each a collection of rules) at the edge of a virtual network and/or applied to a network interface attached to an instance. Traffic to an instance from the internet must pass through at least one security group at the edge of the virtual network and may also pass through an additional security group attached to the interface of an instance. | string | Src/Dst: |
Interface Name | The name of the network interface. | string | Src/Dst: |
Gateway Name | The name of the gateway. | string | Src/Dst: |
Gateway Type | The type of gateway such as VPN, ExpressRoute, Application Gateway, etc. | string | Src/Dst: |
FQDN | The fully qualified domain name. | string | Dst: |
Load Balancer | The Azure load balancer resource that distributes traffic. | string | Src/Dst: |
Non-directional Azure Dimensions
These fields provide context on how and where the log was observed within the Azure infrastructure.
Dimension Name (Portal) | Description | Type: | KDE name(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
Observing MAC Address | The MAC address of the observing device. | string Virtual |
|
Ingress Virtual Hub | The name of the Azure Virtual Hub where the traffic enters. | string |
|
Egress Virtual Hub | The name of the Azure Virtual Hub where the traffic exits. | string Virtual |
|
ExpressRoute Circuit Name | The name of the Azure ExpressRoute circuit. | string |
|
ExpressRoute Peering Type | The name of peering type of the Azure ExpressRoute. | string |
|
Firewall Policy | The policy that governs that handling of traffic. | string |
|
Firewall Rule | The rule within the policy that allows or denies traffic. | string |
|
Application Protocol | The application layer protocol used in the communication process. | string |
|
Logging Resource Category | The classification of the logging resource. | string |
|
Logging Resource Name | The name of the logging resource. | string |
|
GCP Dimensions
Dimensions in this category allow you to analyze traffic within your Google Cloud environments, providing visibility into resources like Compute Engine (GCE) instances and Virtual Private Clouds (VPC); see Kentik for GCP.
Directional GCP Dimensions
These fields allow you to filter based on whether the GCP resource is the Source or Destination of the traffic.
Dimension name (portal) | Description | Type: | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
Project ID | The Google Compute Engine (GCE) Project ID. | string | Src/Dst: |
VM Name | The GCE VM name. | string | Src/Dst: |
Region | The GCE region. | string | Src/Dst: |
Zone | The GCE zone. | string | Src/Dst: |
Subnet Name | The GCE subnet name. | string | Src/Dst: |
VM Type | The GCE VM type. | string | Src/Dst: |
Image ID | The GCE image ID. | string | Src/Dst: |
Instance Group ID or Name | The GCE instance group ID or name. | string | Src/Dst: |
VPC Name | The name of the VPC. | string | Src/Dst: |
GKE Pod Name | The name of the individual pod in GKE (Google Kubernetes Engine). | string | Src/Dst: |
GKE Pod Namespace | The namespace that the pod is a part of in GKE. | string | Src/Dst: |
GKE Cluster Name | The name of the GKE cluster. | string | Src/Dst: |
GKE Cluster Location | The location of the GKE cluster. | string | Src/Dst: |
GKE Service Name | The name of the GKE service. | string | Src/Dst: |
GKE Service Namespace | The namespace that the GKE is a part of. | string | Src/Dst: |
Entity Gateway Name | The name of the gateway entity. | string | Src/Dst: |
Entity Gateway Type | The type of gateway. | string | Src/Dst: |
Non-directional GCP Dimensions
Dimension Name (Portal) | Description | Type: | KDE name(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
Reporter | Indicates where the flow was collected/reported:
| string |
|
Dedicated Interconnect Name | The name of the GCP Dedicated Interconnect. | string |
|
Dedicated Interconnect Type | The type of interconnection established. | string |
|
Non-directional Google Cloud Run (GCR) Dimensions
Specialized dimensions for serverless workloads running on Google Cloud Run.
Dimension Name (Portal) | Description | Type: | KDE name(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
Project ID | The GCP Cloud Run project ID. | string |
|
Resource Type | The GCP Cloud Run resource type. | string |
|
Service Name | The GCP Cloud Run service name. | string Virtual |
|
Location | The region where the GCP Cloud Run service is deployed. | string |
|
Service Revision Name | The name of the GCP Cloud Run service revision. | string |
|
HTTP Status Code | The HTTP response status code indicating the result of the request processed by the GCP Cloud Run service. | int |
|
OCI Dimensions
Dimensions in this category provide visibility into your Oracle Cloud Virtual Cloud Networks (VCN), covering instances, subnets, and specialized gateways (see Kentik for OCI).
Notes:
All KDE columns for OCI dimensions are UDR (see Universal Data Records).
Additional details about OCI flow logs may be found in the OCI documentation topic Details for VCN Flow Logs.
Directional OCI Dimensions
These fields allow you to filter based on whether the OCI resource is the Source or Destination of the traffic.
Dimension name (portal) | Description | Type: | KDE name(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
Subnet Name | The name of the subnet. | string | Src/Dst: |
VCN Name | The name of the virtual cloud network. | string | Src/Dst: |
Region | The region where the resource is located. | string | Src/Dst: |
VNIC Name | The name of the virtual network interface card. | string | Src/Dst: |
Instance Name | The name of the instance. | string | Src/Dst: |
Dynamic Routing Gateway Name | The name of the dynamic routing gateway. | string | Src/Dst: |
Local Peering Gateway Name | The name of the local peering gateway. | string | Src/Dst: |
Non-directional OCI Dimensions
These fields provide administrative context and connectivity details for OCI flows.
Dimension Name (Portal) | Description | Type: | KDE name(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
Action | Indicates whether the record’s traffic was accepted or rejected by the security lists. | string |
|
Status | The status of the data capture window for the flow log. | string |
|
Tenant OCID | The Oracle Cloud ID of the tenant. | string |
|
VNIC OCID | The Oracle Cloud ID of the virtual network interface card. | string |
|
VNIC Compartment OCID | The Oracle Cloud ID of the compartment to which the VNIC belongs. | string |
|
VNIC Subnet OCID | The Oracle Cloud ID of the subnet to which the VNIC belongs. | string |
|
Internet Gateway | The OCI Internet Gateway that provides a path for the network traffic between the VCN and the internet. | string |
|
NAT Gateway | The OCI Network Address Translation gateway that enables instances to initiate connections to the internet. | string |
|
Service Gateway | The OCI Service Gateway that provides a path for the network traffic between the VCN and the other OCI resources. | string |
|
IPsec Connection Name | The name of the IPsec VPN connection. | string |
|
Virtual Circuit Name | The name of the OCI Virtual Circuit. | string |
|
Geolocation Dimensions
These dimensions allow you to filter or group-by the geographical properties of the source and destination IP addresses. Kentik uses a high-accuracy provider to map these coordinates.
Dimension name (portal) | Description | Type: | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
Custom Geo | A collection of countries that have been assigned a common geographical label (see About Custom Geos). | string | Src/Dst: |
Country | Two-letter country code associated with the source/destination IP of the flow. | string | Src/Dst: |
Region | Full-string English name of the region (state or province, e.g. "California") associated with the source IP of the flow. | string | Src/Dst: |
City | Full-string English name of the city (e.g. "San Francisco") associated with the source IP of the flow. | string | Src/Dst: |
Site Country | A country in which your organization has sites; enables the grouping, with a single dimension, of traffic from all sites in a given country. | string | Non-directional: |
Ultimate Exit Site Country | The name of the country containing the site through which flow leaves. | string | Non-directional: |
Application Context and Security
Dimensions in this category provide high-level context about the nature of the traffic, such as identifying commercial CDNs and Cloud Services, or matching traffic against known Threat Feeds.
These dimensions are used to filter or group-by based on various factors related to context — whether a flow originated or terminated with a commercial CDN, for example, or what "service" (port and protocol) it represents — as well as whether the value of certain flow fields match those of known security threats.
Dimension Name (Portal) | Description | Type: | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
Cloud | The name of the vendor (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure, etc.) operating the cloud computing service in which this flow originated (src) or terminated (dst). The value is derived by checking the IP address (src or dst) in the flow against the cloud provider's list of IPs. | string | Src/Dst: |
Cloud Service | The name that a cloud computing vendor assigns to the service in which a flow originated (src) or terminated (dst). The value is derived by checking the IP address (src or dst) in the flow against the cloud provider's list of IPs. | string | Src/Dst: |
CDN | Commercial CDN (if any) with which the flow originated/terminated (see CDN Attribution Dimensions).
| string | Src/Dst: |
Service (Port + Proto) | The combination of the port and protocol of the source/destination flow.
| string | Src/Dst: |
Bot Net CC | A source/destination IP for the flow that has been identified as a botnet command and control (CC) servers (see Threat Feed Dimensions). | string | Src/Dst: |
Threat List Host | A source/destination IP for the flow that has been identified as a threat (see Threat Feed Dimensions). | string | Src/Dst: |
Application | An identifying string for the application associated with a flow, which is either derived by evaluating flow data or provided in the flow data itself (see About Applications). | string | Non-directional: |
TCP Flags | TCP flags that were set on the flow using a flow mask. | int | Non-directional: |
OTT Service | An individual OTT content service whose hostname is looked up via DNS. | string | Non-directional: |
OTT Service Type | The nature of the content provided by an OTT content service. Values include Adult, Ads, Antivirus, Audio, Cloud, Conferencing, Dating, Developer Tools, Documents, Ecommerce, File Sharing, Gaming, IoT, Mail, Maps, Media, Messaging, Network, Newsgroups, Photo Sharing, Social, Software Download, Software Updates, Storage, Video, VPN, Web. | string | Non-directional: |
OTT Service Provider | An entity that offers an OTT content service. For example, Google is the provider for Google Drive, Gmail, Google Maps, etc. | string | Non-directional: |
Application Decodes
Application decodes dimensions allow you to filter or group-by traffic based on host-related data (e.g., HTTP, DNS, TLS) captured and enriched by Kentik (see Universal Agent).
Dimensional Evolution: Native vs. UDR
Current Dimensions: Modern versions of the host agent use Universal Data Records columns. These are found under the Application Decodes category in the Portal.
Legacy Dimensions: Older agent versions used a fixed set of Native KDE columns. These are now categorized as Legacy Application Decodes.
IMPORTANT: All dimensions listed in the tables below are Non-directional. For associated performance data, see Application Decodes Metrics.
Application Decodes Dimensions
The following dimensions correspond to application decode fields from current host agent versions, which use UDR columns in KDE (see Universal Data Records).
DNS Dimensions
Dimensions related to DNS properties (see Host Traffic Dimensions):
Dimension Name (Portal) | Description | Type: | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
DNS Query Name | Query from a DNS resolver to a DNS name server. | string | Non-directional |
DNS Query Type | The resource record type requested by the DNS query. | bigint | Non-directional |
DNS Reply Code | DNS return code (see IANA DNS Parameters). | bigint | Non-directional |
DNS Reply Data | The response from a DNS server to a DNS query. | string | Non-directional |
HTTP Dimensions
Dimensions related to HTTP properties (see Host Traffic Dimensions):
Dimension Name (Portal) | Description | Type: | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
HTTP URL | Filename portion of path, with query string (if any). | string | Non-directional |
HTTP Host | Domain name of the server. | string | Non-directional |
HTTP Referrer | The address from which a destination webpage is requested. | string | Non-directional |
HTTP URL | Filename portion of path, with query string (if any). | string | Non-directional |
HTTP Host | Domain name of the server. | string | Non-directional |
TLS Dimensions
Dimensions related to Transport Layer Security (see IETF RFC8446):
Dimension Name (Portal) | Description | Type: | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
TLS Server Name | The Server Name Indication (SNI), which is a TLS extension by which a client indicates which hostname it is attempting to connect to at the start of the handshaking process. | string | Non-directional |
TLS Server Version | The TLS server version. | int | Non-directional |
TLS Cipher Suite | A set of cryptographic algorithms used to create keys and encrypt information for TLS. | int | Non-directional |
DHCP Dimensions
Dimensions related to Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (see IETF RFC2131):
Dimension Name (Portal) | Description | Type: | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
DHCP OP | Message op code / message type: 1 = BOOTREQUEST, 2 = BOOTREPLY. | int | Non-directional |
DHCP Message Type | The type of the DHCP message, e.g., DHCPDISCOVER, DHCPOFFER (see DHCP Message Type). | int | Non-directional |
DHCP CI Address | A client IP address ( | string | Non-directional |
DHCP YI Address | The IP address of the client ( | string | Non-directional |
DHCP SI Address | The IP address of next server to use in bootstrap ( | string | Non-directional |
DHCP Lease | In a client request (DHCPDISCOVER or DHCPREQUEST), the requested lease time for the IP address; in a server reply, the lease time offered by the server (see IP Address Lease Time). | int | Non-directional |
DHCP CH Address | The client hardware address ( | string | Non-directional |
DHCP Hostname | The name of the client (see Host Name Option). | string | Non-directional |
DHCP Domain | The domain name that client should use when resolving hostnames via the Domain Name System (see Domain Name Option). | string | Non-directional |
Radius Dimensions
Dimensions related to RADIUS (see FreeRADIUS attributes):
Dimension Name (Portal) | Description | Type: | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
Radius Code | The RADIUS Packet type: Access-Request, Access-Accept, Access-Reject, or Access-Challenge (see IETF RFC2865). | int | Non-directional |
Radius User Name | The name of the user to be authenticated. | string | Non-directional |
Radius Service Type | The type of service the user has requested, or the type of service to be provided. | int | Non-directional |
Radius Framed IP Address | The address to be configured for the user. | string | Non-directional |
Radius Framed IP Mask | The IP netmask to be configured for the user when the user is a router to a network. | string | Non-directional |
Radius Framed Protocol | The framing to be used for framed access. | string | Non-directional |
Radius Accounting Status | Indicates whether this Accounting-Request marks the beginning of the user service (Start) or the end (Stop). | int | Non-directional |
Radius Accounting Session ID | A unique Accounting ID that enables the matching of start and stop records in a log file. | string | Non-directional |
Legacy Application Decodes
The dimensions in this category correspond to application-layer data captured by older host agent versions. While still supported for historical data, we recommend using the modern Application Decodes for all new queries and dashboards.
Note: The dimensions below require Kentik's software host agent (see About the Universal Agent).
Legacy DNS Dimensions
These dimensions represent DNS query and response data stored in Native KDE columns (see Host Traffic Dimensions):
Dimension Name (Portal) | Description | Type: | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
DNS Query | Query from a DNS resolver to a DNS name server.
| string | Src/Dst: |
DNS Query Type | The resource record type requested by the DNS query. | bigint | Src/Dst: |
DNS Return Code | DNS return code (see IANA DNS Parameters)
| bigint | Src/Dst: |
DNS Response | The response from a DNS server to a DNS query.
| string | Src/Dst: |
Legacy HTTP Dimensions
These dimensions capture basic web traffic metadata using legacy indexing (see Host Traffic Dimensions):
Dimension Name (Portal) | Description | Type: | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
HTTP URL | Filename portion of path, with query string (if any). | string | Src/Dst: |
HTTP Host Header | Domain name of the server.
| string | Src/Dst: |
HTTP Return Code | HTTP status code.
| bigint | Src/Dst: |
HTTP Referrer | The address from which a destination webpage is requested. | string | Src/Dst: |
HTTP User Agent | User agent information identifying the client that submitted a request. | string | Src/Dst: |
Container Networking Dimensions
Kentik dimensions for containerized environments allow you to bridge the gap between traditional network flow and logical orchestration metadata.
Note: Use of Kubernetes with Kentik requires a special software agent; for further information contact Kentik (see Customer Care).
Kubernetes Dimensions
These dimensions represent the logical structure of your Kubernetes cluster. For more technical background, see What is Kubernetes?.
Dimension Name (portal) | Description | Type: | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
Pod Name | The name of a pod, which represents a set of running containers on your cluster. | string | Src/Dst |
Pod Namespace | The scope within which the pod name is valid and unique. | string | Src/Dst |
Workload Name | The name of a workload, which is a system of services or applications that can run to fulfill a task or carry out a business process. | string | Src/Dst |
Workload Namespace | The scope within which the workload name is valid and unique. | string | Src/Dst |
Container Name | The name of an executable image that contains software and all of its dependencies. | string | Dst only |
Service Name | The name of a network application that is running as one or more pods in your cluster. | string | Src/Dst |
Service Namespace | The namespace in which the service is running. | string | Src/Dst |
PATA Dimensions
The Process-Aware Telemetry Agent (PATA) provides granular visibility into the specific system processes generating network traffic. This is vital for security auditing and identifying "noisy" applications.
TIP: PATA dimensions require the kappa host agent. If you are seeing "N/A" in these fields, verify that the agent is correctly deployed on your nodes, or contact Kentik support for assistance.
Dimension Name (Portal) | Description | Type | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
Process PID | The ID of the source or destination process of the flow. | integer | Src & Dst |
Process Name | The name of the source or destination process of the flow | string | Src & Dst |
Process Cmdline | The command entered at the CLI, related to the process ID of the source or destination process of the flow. | string | Src & Dst |
Process Container ID | The string (guid format) that uniquely identifies the container. | string | Src & Dst |
Node | The source or destination Kubernetes node that originated or terminated the flow. | string | Src & Dst |
Object Name | The Kubernetes object (pod or service name) for the source or destination pod in the traffic flow. | string | Src & Dst |
Object Namespace | The Kubernetes namespace of the source or destination pod in the traffic flow. | string | Src & Dst |
Object Type | The Kubernetes object type for the traffic flow (pod or service). | string | Src & Dst |
Container Name | The container name(s) related to the source or destination process ID. | string | Src & Dst |
Workload Name | The name of the workload that a pod or service was deployed as. | string | Src & Dst |
Workload Namespace | The namespace name of a source or destination traffic flow. | string | Src & Dst |
Object Labels | The object labels associated with source or destination traffic. | string | Src & Dst |
Cluster ID | A unique identifying integer that the cluster assigns to itself. | integer | Other |
