Session Abstract

The GlobalNOC at Indiana University collects a large volume of time-series data from the networks we support using a tool called SNAPP. These data sets are used for a variety of purposes, including monitoring and alerting; mapping and visualization; network diagnostics and troubleshooting; capacity planning; and more.

This data all lives in our open source time-series database (TSDS). Traditionally, we've used an in-house developed user interface to allow users to explore and visualize this data. More recently, we began receiving requests from our users to provide capabilities to allow them to easily customize these visualizations and also to be able to show "mash-up" visualizations of data from SNAPP/TSDS alongside data stored in other databases.

A number of tools have recently emerged in the open source community to provide customizable "data dashboard" interfaces to time-series data. One such tool, Grafana (https://grafana.com), has become particularly popular in this space.

GlobalNOC has now adopted Grafana as a user interface for SNAPP. By creating a TSDS driver for Grafana, and a set of "canned" Grafana dashboards, we've been able to provide an easy-to-use, flexible, end-user-customizable interface to our time-series data sets.

This talk will detail our journey from using a custom-developed visualization UI to using the open source Grafana package and how this has empowered our users to be directly in control of their data visualizations.