Grafana Data Source Plugin

Applies To:

HTTP LargeThis platform has been optimized to cache and deliver static content (e.g., HTML, CSS, JavaScript, ISO, multimedia, and software downloads, etc.) over HTTP or HTTPS.

HTTP SmallLegacy. If you are currently serving traffic over this platform, then you may continue to do so. However, we recommend that you serve your traffic over our more robust HTTP Large platform.

ADNThe Application Delivery Network platform has been optimized to deliver dynamic content (e.g., login credentials, account information, etc.) over HTTP or HTTPS. Typically, user-specific and database-driven content are served over this platform.

AnalyticsThis product provides a variety of reports that range from basic CDN usage statistics to real-time data to in-depth trend analysis on key metrics. This suite consists of the following modules: Core, Custom, Advanced Content Analytics, Real-Time Statistics, and Edge Performance Analytics.

Grafana allows you to visualize data through graphs. Use our Grafana data source plugin, which is called Verizon Media Platform Analytics, to create queries through which you may gain insight into historical and near real-time CDN performance.

Our Grafana data source plugin uses Report Builder as a data source. Please contact your CDN account manager to activate Report Builder.

Quick Start

Get started by performing the following steps:

Verify that your Grafana installation is version 6.7.x or higher.
Register an IDS client application to authorize the Grafana plugin access to Report Builder data.
Install our Grafana data source plugin on your Grafana installation by uncompressing it within your Grafana plugins directory.
Add Report Builder (Downsampled) or Report Builder as a data source.
Create your dashboard with one or more panel(s) that use the data source defined in the previous step.

Client Application Registration

Access to your Report Builder data is restricted to authorized client applications (e.g., Verizon Media Platform Analytics plugin). Authorize this plugin to access your data by creating an API client that has been granted the ec.analytics.rtap.reports scope.

To create an API client for use with the Verizon Media Platform Analytics plugin

Navigate to the Identity dashboard.
Click Clients from the side navigation pane.
Verify that the Assigned to Tenant option is set to your customer account.
Click Create New Client.
In the Name option, assign a name that describes this API client.
In the Permissions section, mark the ec.analytics.rtap.reports scope.
Click Create.
Make a note of your new API client's credentials. You will need these credentials when setting up your data source.
- Client ID: Click the Settings tab and then find the Client ID option.
- Secret Key: Click the Client Secrets tab and then click to copy that secret key.

Plugin Installation

Perform the following steps to install our Grafana data source plugin:

From the computer hosting Grafana, download the plugin from:

https://docs.edgecast.com/download/verizon-media-platform-analytics-1.2.0.zip
Extract the contents of the above file into your Grafana plugins directory.
Restart the Grafana server.

Data Source

The Verizon Media Platform Analytics plugin acts as a data source for the following types of data:

Report Builder
Report Builder (Downsampled)

Both of the above data sources require Report Builder. If you have not already purchased Report Builder, please contact your CDN account manager to activate it.

Both Report Builder and Report Builder (Downsampled) leverage the same type of data. However, Report Builder (Downsampled) offers superior performance due to a data set that has been downsampled to 0.1%.

Key information:

Adding a data source to Grafana requires the Admin role. Please refer to Grafana's documentation for more information.
Set the type of data source to Verizon Media Platform Analytics.
Upon selecting the Verizon Media Platform Analytics data source type, you will need to:
1. Identify whether graphs will be generated from Report Builder or Report Builder (Downsampled) data.
2. Provide credentials that authorize this data source to retrieve your Report Builder data. These authorization credentials were provided when you registered this client application.

Panels

Set up a panel for Report Builder data by performing the following steps:

Add a panel to the desired dashboard.
Set the panel's data source to one that points to either Report Builder or Report Builder (Downsampled).
Define the query that determines the set of data that will be reported.
Save your changes.

Please refer to Grafana's documentation for more information on how to add a panel.

Query Settings

Use the following settings to define your query:

Setting	Description
Granularity	Determines the time interval for each data point in the graph. If you plan on viewing statistics instead of a graph, you should set this option to Entire Time Span. Use Auto to use a default time interval that varies according to the panel's time span. Learn more.
Metrics	Add one or more metric(s) to the graph. Learn more.
Metrics Filter (Advanced)	Filter data by one or more metric(s) using a JavaScript expression. Specify each metric using its code name (e.g., bytes_out, file_size, and request_count). Example: Filter data by requests whose size is smaller than 50 bytes via the following syntax: (file_size < 50)
Dimensions	Adds one or more dimension filter(s) to the graph. Upon selecting a dimension, you must specify a value for filtering the graph's data points. Set a dimension filter's value to * to include all available values. Learn more.
Dimensions Filter (Adv.)	Filter data by one or more dimension(s) using a JavaScript expression. Specify each dimension using its code name (e.g., host, status, and root_directory). Only data that meets all of the conditions defined within the Dimensions and Dimensions (Advanced) options will be included within the report. Example: Filter data by cache hits via the following syntax: (cache_status == 'TCP_EXPIRED_HIT' ) \|\| (cache_status == 'TCP_HIT' ) \|\| (cache_status == 'TCP_PARTIAL_HIT')
Sort	Determines how metrics will be sorted. Combine sorting with the Limit option to view a subset of data. Example: If you only want to view data for requests from your top 10 edge CNAMEs, then you would define the following configuration: Limit: 10 Metrics: Requests Dimensions: Edge CNAME Sort: Edge CNAME (Descending Order)
Metric Percentage Mode	Determines whether the graph will map metric data points by value or by percentage. Percentage is calculated by comparing the filtered metric's value against its total value. View a sample scenario. Let's assume that a graph has been configured as follows: Metrics: Requests Dimensions: Edge CNAME = cdn.example.com Let's also assume that the following data points are evenly distributed throughout the graph: 100,000 requests for cdn.example.com. 100,000 requests for cdn2.example.com. We will now see how this option affects the graph: Enabled: Requests for cdn.example.com are plotted around 50%. Disabled: If the graph contains around 10 intervals, then requests for cdn.example.com are plotted around 10,000.
Plot Data At	Determines whether data points will be plotted at the start or the end of their corresponding time intervals. Set this option to End of Time Interval if you have set up alerts within Grafana. This mode will sync your graphed data with the time identified within your alerts. Example: Let's assume that your report uses 1 hour time intervals (i.e., granularity). This option determines whether all of the data that corresponds to the 10 AM to 11 AM time interval will be plotted as a single point on the graph at 10 AM or 11 AM.