Metrics Explorer

The features and use of Metrics Explorer are discussed in the following topics:

• About Metrics Explorer
• Metrics Explorer Layout
• Metrics Explorer SubNav
• Metrics Query Assistant
• Metrics Explorer Main Display
• Metrics Explorer Query Sidebar

Note: The following articles provide information about other aspects of Kentik's Network Monitoring System:
- NMS Overview
- Kentik NMS Agent
- NMS Setup
- NMS Dashboard
- NMS Devices
- NMS Interfaces
- Query Assistant

Metrics Explorer enables you to query the SNMP or Streaming Telemetry data gathered from your network by Kentik NMS, and to see the results of those queries presented as visualizations and tables that help you better understand the status and activity of your Kentik-monitored network infrastructure over a user-specified timespan.

Note: Streaming Telemetry is not supported in the initial private release of Kentik NMS.

Queries are typically configured in the panes of the Metrics Explorer Query Sidebar. These settings specify query parameters such as measurements, metrics, dimensions, and time ranges, and can also narrow the returned data by filtering (see Filtering Pane) on dimensions and/or the values of the returned metrics.

Results are displayed in the display area and are typically made up of both of the following:

• Visualization: A chart that may be one of a variety of different types (see Visualization Options Pane).
• Table: A corresponding table listing the query results in tabular form according to the Table Options Pane.

Note: The functionality of Metrics Explorer is not yet available via API.

Metrics Explorer is made up of the following main areas:

• SubNav: Page-wide controls and navigation in a gray strip across the top of the page (see Metrics Explorer SubNav).
• Query Assistant: A field into which you can enter a query in natural language (see Metrics Query Assistant).
  Note: Query Assistant is a Beta feature and is still being refined.
• Main Display: An area for the display of query results, which in most cases are made up of a visualization and an accompanying table (see Metrics Explorer Main Display).
• Query Sidebar: A drawer at the right of the page that is shown/hidden by the Query button in the SubNav. The sidebar contains a set of panes whose settings specify the query whose results are returned in the display area (see Metrics Explorer Query Sidebar).

The Metrics Explorer SubNav (gray strip across the top of the page) contains the following page-wide controls:

• Actions: A button that opens a popup with the following options:
  - Create Saved View: Save the currently displayed query and query results as a Saved View that you can access later via the Kentik portal's Library.
  - Add to NMS Dashboard: Save the current Metrics Explorer chart as a visualization on the NMS Dashboard. You can use this feature multiple times to populate the NMS Dashboard with a set of visualizations that precisely reflect the health and performance of your network.
• Query: A button that toggles visibility of the Metrics Explorer Query Sidebar, which contains the controls used to specify the query whose results are returned in the Metrics Explorer Main Display.

The Query Assistant feature in Metrics Explorer is covered in the following topics:

• Query Assistant in Explorer
• The Query Assistant Popup
• Using Query Assistant
• Query Assistant Feedback

The Query Assistant field below the SubNav enables you to enter a query in your own words rather than specifying it with the controls of the Query sidebar. Kentik will interpret the text you enter into the field and set the sidebar for a query that matches our understanding of what you'd like to see. While you're theoretically able to type any question into this field, you'll find in practice that some questions work better than others to return meaningful results.

Note: While our initial Query Assistant implementation is primarily focused on English, our engine may also recognize additional languages such as Spanish and French.

Clicking the Query Assistant field opens an Query Assistant popup, which contains the following:

• Query Assistant field: An input field into which you can enter, in natural language, text describing what you'd like your query results to show you. Press Return/Enter on your keyboard to submit the entered text for conversion into a query, which will populate the settings of the Query sidebar.
• Example Queries: A list of tiles that each contain Kentik-provided text that will result in a working query. Click a tile to enter the text into the Query Assistant field.
• Recent Queries: A list of tiles that each contain the text of a recent Query Assistant entry that you ran as a query. Click a tile to enter the text into the Query Assistant field.
• Clear History: A button that clears the Recent Queries list.

To use the Query Assistant field:

1. Click in the field. An Query Assistant popup will appear.
2. Populate the popup's Query Assistant field by doing one of the following:
   - Enter text into the field itself;
   - Click a tile in the Example Queries list;
   - Click a tile in the Recent Queries list.
3. Press Return/Enter on your keyboard. The popup will close and the query derived from the text entered in the Query Assistant field will run.
4. If the results (chart and table) returned in the main display area don't show what you intended your query to show:
   - Click the Query button in the SubNav to open the Query sidebar.
   - Check the settings in the sidebar's panes to determine whether they accurately reflect the query you had hoped to create.
   - Adjust settings as needed to refine the query.
   - Click Run Query to see results from the revised query.
5. Click the Results as Expected? button to open the Query Assistant Feedback, where you can give feedback that will help us train the machine learning model that powers this feature, which will improve the queries that we derive from Query Assistant.

Note: Because Query Assistant is a new feature in the Kentik portal, you may find that some queries do not work as expected. We highly recommend checking the query sidebar (step 4 above) to be sure that any query that was built from the Query Assistant field matches your expectations.

The Provide Additional Feedback dialog for Kentik Query Assistant opens from the ratings buttons (thumbs up/down icons) at the right of the Query Assistant field after a Query Assistant query is returned. The dialog contains the following fields and controls:

• User Rating: Radio buttons with which you can tell us whether you got the results you expected from the query derived from the text you entered in the Query Assistant field.
• Comment: An input field in which you can enter any additional information that you think would help us refine our Query Assistant capabilities.
• Cancel: Buttons — one an X in the upper right corner and the other a Cancel button at lower right — that close the dialog without giving feedback.
• Save: A button that closes the dialog and sends the feedback to Kentik.

The main display area shows the results of the most recently run query. The area includes the following main UI elements:

• Query Assistant field: A field into which you can enter text that Kentik will evaluate as a natural language query in order to populate the Query sidebar, run a query, and return results (see Metrics Query Assistant).
• Visualization: A visual representation of the query results, either a line chart (default) or a different chart type that you can choose in the Query sidebar's Visualization Options Pane. Typically the visualization helps you understand how the measurements and metrics you have selected have changed over your selected time range.
• Results table: A table that shows query results, typically listing the entities reporting results and stating the metrics values for each entity as configured in the Table Options Pane.

The sort priority of the results table is determined primarily by the order of the metrics selected in the Metrics field in the Measurement Pane, and secondarily by the order of the methods selected in the Aggregation field in the Table Options Pane. For example, if the Metrics field contains (from left) metrics 1, 2, and 3, and the Aggregation field contains methods A and B, the order of rows will be based on a top-X evaluation with the following priority (high to low): 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B.

The Query sidebar, which is shown using the Query button in the Metrics Explorer SubNav, is covered in the following topics:

• About Metrics Explorer Queries
• Query Sidebar Controls
• Measurement Pane
• Visualization Options Pane
• Time Pane
• Filtering Pane
• Table Options Pane

Note: In the initial state of the Metrics Explorer page, the Query sidebar is open but only the Measurement selector is visible. Once you select a measurement the rest of the sidebar's fields and controls are displayed.

Queries in Kentik NMS are built in a format compatible with the OpenConfig data model, which enables consistent storage of your data whether it was collected from SNMP, from Streaming Telemetry, or by some other method. The queries are configured in the Query sidebar, which is structured as a set of panes that each contain settings related to a specific aspect of the query. These panes are covered in the topics below.

The following controls appear at the bottom of the Query sidebar:

• Run Query: A button that runs a query based on the current settings of the Query sidebar and returns results (chart and table) to the main display area.
• Reset: A button that clears all settings in the Query sidebar. All panes will disappear except the Measurement pane, which will show only the Select a measurement control. Once a measurement is selected, the rest of the sidebar's settings will be shown.

The Measurement pane is used to define specifically what you'd like the query to look at.

A measurement represents an entity that may be physical or logical:

• Common physical entities include /system (OpenConfig's name for a device), /interfaces/counters, /components/fans, and /components/power supplies.
• Common logical entities include the BGP process, OSPF, and IS-IS.

The choice of a measurement determines the specific additional measurement-related parameters that are available for a query:

• Metrics:
  - Metric availability: Each measurement has a variety of available metrics. For example, the /components/memory measurement includes metrics such as available memory, free memory, and utilization percentage, while the /interface/counters measurement includes metrics such as In utilization, In errors, In packet rate, and Admin status.
  - Metric presentation: A query may return results for one or more metrics. Only the first metric will be plotted in the visualization (unless you specify a different metric in the Visualization Options Pane); additional metrics results are presented only in the table.
• Group-by dimensions: The dimensions by which the results for the metrics will be grouped for display in the visualization and table.
  - Example: If you want to see which interfaces on which devices have the highest inbound utilization, you'd not only set your measurement to /interfaces/counters and your metric to In utilization, you'd also set the dimensions to Device Name and Interface Name, resulting in chart plots and table rows that each represent a unique combination of interface and device.
• Merge series: A set of one or more dimensions that will be treated as individual group-by dimensions in an initial aggregation pass, but will be aggregated in a second pass using a method of your choosing (sum/avg/min/max). This feature allows you to control how lower-level data is combined to remove clutter and clarify the most important higher-level information.
  Example: If you select both Device Name and Interface Name as group-by dimensions, then each plot in your visualization and row in your table will represent a unique combination of device and interface. If you instead select Interface Name as a Merge Series dimension, then each/plot row will represent a device, and you'll be able to control, with the Merge Series Aggregation setting, how the values for each device's interfaces are combined to produce a single plot for that device.

The Measurement pane includes the following UI elements:

• Select a measurement (required): A selector that drops down a filterable list of available measurements. Find the measurement that you’re interested in and click to select it.
  Note: The remaining UI in the pane is hidden until a measurement is selected.
• Metrics (required): A field that, when clicked, pops up a list from which you can choose one or more metrics that are available for the selected measurement.
  - The popup includes a filter field into which you can enter text to narrow the metrics listed, which can then be selected individually (by clicking) or as a group (with the Select All button).
  - Each selected metric will appear as a lozenge in the Metrics field.
  - To add more metrics, click in the field again.
  - To remove a metric, click the X at the right of its lozenge.
• Group-by Dimensions (required): A field that, when clicked, pops up a list from which you can choose one or more dimensions by which to group the results.
  - The popup includes a filter field into which you can enter text to narrow the dimensions listed, which can then be selected individually (by clicking) or as a group (with the Select All button).
  - Each selected dimension will appear as a lozenge in the Group-by Dimensions field.
  - To add more dimensions, click in the field again.
  - To remove a dimension, click the X at the right of its lozenge.
• Merge Series: A field that, when clicked, pops up a list from which you can choose one or more dimensions that will be used for a merge series (see Measurement Pane Parameters).
  - The popup includes a filter field into which you can enter text to narrow the dimensions listed, which can then be selected individually (by clicking) or as a group (with the Select All button).
  - Each selected dimension will appear as a lozenge in the Merge Series field.
  - To add more dimensions, click in the field again.
  - To remove a dimension, click the X at the right of its lozenge.
• Aggregation (shown only when dimensions are present in the Merge Series field): A drop-down from which you can select a method for merge series aggregation (sum/avg/min/max).

Note: The order in which metrics appear in the Metrics field contributes to the Table Sort Priority of the results table returned from a query.

This pane enables control over query parameters that affect the visualization displayed in the Metrics Explorer Main Display.

The pane includes the following settings:

• Visualization: A drop-down from which you can select the type of chart used for the visualization. The default is Line; other options include Area, Column, Pie, or Table Only (no visualization).
• Metric: A drop-down from which you can select the metric used for the visualization. The default is the first metric in the Metrics field (see Measurement Pane UI).
• Aggregation: A drop-down from which you can select a method for aggregating the values in a data series into a single value representing the duration set with Sample Size.
• Sample Size: A drop-down from which you can choose the width (in time) of the individual buckets whose contents are each aggregated to derive a single value for an individual segment of the time series. When set to Auto (default), the sample size is chosen by Kentik to yield a feasible number of data points to plot given the duration of the time range.
• Series Count: A drop-down from which you can choose the number of series to plot in the visualization.
  Note: A query without group-by dimensions will typically result in only a single series.
• Transformation: A drop-down that enables you to apply a transformation to the values used to plot the metric:
  - None (default): Plot the metric's absolute value.
  - Counter: Plot the metric's rate, based on the delta for each time slice (preventing the plot from being continuously upcounting throughout the time range).

The time pane is used to specify the period of time covered by the query.

The pane includes the following controls:

• Time: A control set that enables you to define a time range.
  - Time selector: An indicator that states the current time range (set by default to Last Hour) and also functions as a button that pops up a "Lookback list" of time range presets. To set a range that's not one of the presets, click Custom at the top of the list, which will open the Custom Time Range Popup.
  - Forward/Back: Arrows at the left and right of the time selector that enable you to move the time range while maintaining its current duration. For example, if the time range is Last Hour you can click the Back arrow to set the range to a full hour that ends one hour ago.
• Zone: A drop-down from which you can choose the time zone that applies to the time range of your queries, either UTC or Local. By default this is set to match the Time Zone setting in your User Profile (see User-specific Defaults).

The popup used to set custom time ranges includes the following controls:

• Cancel: A button that closes the popup and leaves the time range as it was before the popup was opened.
• Apply: A button that applies the time range from the values in the start and end fields and hides the popup. The applied range will be shown in the Time-range Drop-down
• Lookback list: Preset durations back from the current time, listed along the left side of the popup. Click a list item to set the time range. For example, if the current time is 11:00 and the chosen duration is Last 15 Minutes, the resulting time range will be from 10:45 to 11:00.
• From: Date and time fields that set the start of the time range.
• To: Date and time fields that set the end of the time range.
• Calendars: Side-by-side monthly calendars that show the time range (if it spans more than one day) and enable you to change the range (shown in the time range fields above) by clicking on a date. The start and end days of the time range are indicated in blue, and the intervening days are indicated in light gray. The calendar controls include forward and back buttons to change the displayed months as well as drop-down selectors for month and year.

The Filtering pane enables you to narrow the scope of your query or narrow the results returned from the query.

The pane includes the following controls:

• Dimension Filters: A list of the dimension filters, each represented in a tile, that have been applied to this query using the Filtering Options dialog. To remove a listed filter, click the red X in its tile.
• Add/Edit Dimension Filters: A button that opens a Filtering Options Dialog from which you can apply an ad hoc filter on any of the available metrics dimensions, which are the same as the Group-by dimensions (see Measurement Pane). Example dimensions include Device Name, Site, and ifDescr.
• Metric Filters: A list of the currently active control sets that have been added with the Add Metric Filter button.
• Add Metric Filter: A button that adds a control set with which you can filter how the metrics returned by your query are shown in the results. If you are measuring CPU utilization, for example, you may choose to filter the results to show only values over 90%. The control set includes the following controls:
  - Aggregation: A drop-down from which you can choose the aggregation to which the filter will be applied. Available aggregations are determined by the value of the Aggregation field in the Table Options Pane.
  - Metric: A drop-down from which you can choose the metric to which the filter will be applied. Available metrics are determined by the value of the Metrics field in the Measurement Pane.
  - Operator: The operator to apply in the filter: equals/does not equal, greater than/less than.
  - Value: The value that determines which results are included/excluded by the filter.
  - X: Remove this control set from the policy.

Table options determine how the results returned from the query are shown in the table in the main display area.

The pane includes the following settings:

• Aggregation: A field showing the method(s) by which the time series values for a key, which are plotted over time in the visualization, will be represented in the results table as a single value for the entire time range:
  - Each selected method is shown in the field as a lozenge.
  - The default methods are Average and Last.
  - To remove a method, click the X at the right of its lozenge.
  - To add a method, click in the field to open a popup from which you can choose. The table will include a column for each selected method.
• Rows: A drop-down from which you can choose how many rows (the top-X) to display in the results table.
  Example: If × = 10 (default) then the tabular data returned from the query will be sorted as described in Table Sort Priority and the top 10 rows will be shown in the table.

Note: The order in which methods appear in the Aggregation field contributes to the Table Sort Priority of the results table.