What analysis can I perform using collected
statistics?
You can use the statistics collected by F5 BIG-IQ Centralized Management to
visually analyze the performance of the traffic, services, and devices of your managed BIG-IP
systems. The statistics are displayed in graphical charts and tables that you can drill down
into for more specific details that pertain to a host device, traffic aspect, configured
service, or network setting. You can focus the statistics in the charts on different
categories such as virtual servers, pools, pool members, or DNS traffic.
How do I get started managing statistics
data?
You can monitor statistics data provided by the BIG-IP devices managed by BIG-IQ Centralize Management. There are a few things you need to do before you can start
monitoring the statistics data generated by your managed devices.
You must have AVR provisioned on your BIG-IP devices in order to collect
statistics.
You need to install, configure, and discover a data collection device
(DCD). The DCD stores the data from your devices, and routes the date to your BIG-IQ device.
Refer to
Planning and Implementing a Centralized Management
Deployment
for details.
You need to enable statistics collection for the devices you want to
monitor. There a couple of ways to do that. Refer to
Enabling
Statistics Collection
for details.
Once you have your system set up and you are receiving statistics, you should
take a minute or two to understand how the user interface works. The interface is set up so
that statistics from Device, DNS, Local Traffic, Network Security, and Web Application
Security use a common set of tools to manage how you access and manage your data. Once you
understand how this common interface works, you should be ready to go.
Statistics for the Access
component use a slightly different user interface. For details on monitoring these statistics,
refer to
Access Reporting and Statistics
.
Statistics for this BIG-IQ
device also use a different user interface. For details on monitoring these statistics, go to
System
THIS DEVICE
Statistics
, or
System
THIS DEVICE
BIG-IQ Metrics
and refer to the online help.
Navigating a statistics overview screen
This figure shows a typical statistics overview screen. The three parts of the
statistics overview screens work together so you can fine-tune the statistics display. To view
a screen similar to this, click
Monitoring
DASHBOARDS
Device
Health
. You must configure statistics collection in order to view data.
The
Overview screen for DNS has a few extra controls. For details, see
What is different about the DNS Overview screen?
.
Typical
statistics overview screen
The table defines key elements of this screen.
User interface area
What does this part of the screen do?
Time Controls
Adjusts the time window for which statistics are
displayed. For details on how these controls work, see
How do
the time controls work?
.
Events and Traffic Capturing
Controls the display of additional data pertaining to
traffic patterns detected over time. The
Traffic Capturing
control
is limited to screens that display HTTP traffic information. For details on how these
controls work, see
How do events and traffic capturing controls
work?
Chart Pane
Displays a series of charts that plot the collected
statistics. For details on how to manipulate these charts, see
How does the chart pane work?
.
Dimensions Pane
Determines the objects for which you display statistics.
For details on how the controls on this pane work, see
How
does the dimensions pane work?
.
How do the time controls work?
This figure shows a close up of the time controls on a typical overview screen. To view a
screen similar to this, click
Monitoring
DASHBOARDS
Device
Health
.The time controls work together to give you control of the specific time
period for which you wan to see statistics.
Overview screen
time control detail
Key elements are defined in the table:
User interface control
User interface display
What does this control do?
Time Selector
Use this control to specify the length of time for which you want to view statistics
data. Time selection options become available as your system gathers data, over time.
Data is displayed from the instant the last refresh occurred, back to time interval you
specify. For example, if the last refresh occurred at 11:00, and the Time Selector is set to 30
minutes, the charts display data from 10:30 to 11:00.
Custom Time Range
Use this control to focus on a specific date and time to display data.
Alternatively, you can click on the chart axis
to specify the focus. Click on a point in the axis and drag in the direction that you want to
view. As you drag, a highlighted window shows what you have selected for the time selector
focus, and a small magnifying glass icon appears. When you have the time selector focus you
want, click the magnifying glass.
Refresh Interval
Use this control to specify how frequently the data on this page
is refreshed. Click the icon to trigger an immediate refresh of the data on the
screen.
Events and Traffic Capturing
Use this control to display additional traffic information over
the charts. By selecting these, you can identify aspects of traffic that caused a change
in data or performance:
Events
display in the charts when specific changes or
exceeded thresholds occurred.
Traffic Capturing
displays in the charts the captured
transaction headers.
Traffic Capturing
is
limited to screens that display HTTP data.
Export and Schedule Reports
Use this control to export chart data to a printable source, or
create a report schedule for a set of data. For more information about exporting and
scheduling statistics reports refer to
Scheduling statistics
reports
.
Inspect Web Application Security Logs
Use this control to navigate to one of the Web Application Security's
logs. The log displays objects based on filters selected from the Web Application Security screen (
Monitoring
DASHBOARDS
Web Application Security
.
This is limited to the Web Application Security screen.
How does the chart pane work?
This figure shows a closer look at the elements that make up the chart pane on a typical
Overview screen. To view a screen similar to this, click
Monitoring
DASHBOARDS
Device
Health
. You can re-order the charts by dragging and dropping them into place.
Overview screen, chart pane detail
Key elements of this screen are defined in the table.
User interface control
What does this control do?
Chart Title
Each chart displays a title that identifies the statistic that plots on that chart.
Each title includes the units of measure that apply to these plots.
Statistics Legend
These colored dots identify the specific plots displayed on the chart. When you move
your cursor over a chart, the value of each plot displays adjacent to these dots. If there is a
multiplier applied to a value, it displays as well. For example, if you hover over one of the
New Connections plots and the value
31.9k
displays, it means that
there were an average of 31,900 connections per second at that point in time.
Statistics Values
These plots display the value of the statistics collected for the selected time
period.
Data is aggregated for the objects or devices that are currently selected.
Initially, the selection is all of the managed objects or devices, but you can use the
dimensions pane to change the selection. If you select one device, the charts shows statistics
for just that device. If you select two devices, the charts plot aggregated statistics for
those devices. If you then select just one device, and five virtual servers, the charts plot
aggregated statistics for the five virtual servers and the single device. For more information
on using the dimensions pane refer to
How does the dimensions pane work?
Hide/Display Chart
Use this control to hide or display a chart. When you hide a chart, the chart title
remains. If you create a comparison chart, an additional control appears that you can use to
delete that chart.
How does the dimensions pane work?
In the BIG-IQ user interface, a dimension is a statistical category (for example BIG-IP host name or iRule event types). Each dimension is broken up into sub-categories that you can view when you expand the dimensions pane to display your statistical data as a table. The other primary use for the controls in the dimensions pane is to filter the objects for which statistics are displayed in the chart window. To view a screen similar to the following illustration, click
Monitoring
DASHBOARDS
Device
Health
, and then click the down arrow on the BIG-IP Host Names dimension. After you expand a dimension, you can select individual objects, or multiple objects, or create a comparison graph that displays statistics for selected objects. The figure shows the key elements that make up the dimensions pane on a typical Overview screen. You can re-order the dimensions by dragging and dropping them into place.
Overview screen dimensions pane detail
Key elements of this screen are defined in the table. Except for the name of each dimension and the pane width adjustment, these controls display only when you expand a dimension to display all of its members.
User interface control
What does this control do?
Adjust Pane Width
With this tab, you can adjust the width of the chart and dimensions panes.
To adjust the dimensions pane width, click this
tab and drag the pane to the width you want.
To extend the dimensions pane to full screen, single click this tab.
Menu Icon
When you click the menu icon, you can choose between several options that you can use to change what is displayed in the Dimensions pane.
Sort by
lists the columns defined for the selected object. You can choose which column you want to sort the listed objects by.
Columns
lists the available columns that can be displayed for the selected object. You can choose which columns you want to display. For a list of what each column in the dimension pane specifies, see Dimension Pane Columns.
You can also sort a dimension or specify which columns
display by right-clicking the column header.
If you select one or more objects for a dimension, you can choose two additional options:
If you choose
Add Comparison Chart
, you can create a graph that plots values for two or more selected metrics. You can create multiple comparison charts and for each comparison chart, you change the metric that is being compared.
If you choose
Clear Selection
, you choose which objects you want to de-select.
Objects Filter
Click the magnifying glass to open a filter control. To filter the list of objects that display in the Objects List, type the name you want to find and click the magnifying glass again. Note that the filter is a prefix match (it starts with the first character of the object name), and the match is case-sensitive.
Objects List
The first 100 objects that meet the filter criteria display here. To display an object not in the top 100, you can change your filter criteria or sort order. Objects selected in the objects list, control the data that plots in the charts. That is:
When you select just one object, the data plotted on the charts is only for that object.
If you select additional objects, the data that plots is the aggregate for those selected objects.
When no objects are selected, the data that plots is the aggregate for all objects in the dimension.
If you select two or more objects in this
list, you can create a comparison chart that plots values for a selected
parameter.
Objects List Columns
The default number of columns that display depends on the type of dimension. You can also change which columns display using the menu icon. You can sort the entries in a dimension by clicking an individual column title. .
Dimension Title
The title of the dimension displays here adjacent to an up arrow/down arrow toggle. This toggle collapses and expands the list of objects of this dimension type for the devices you are currently managing.
Gear Icon
The gear icon provides several options that you can use to change how the objects you have selected in the Dimensions panel display.
You can use
Clear Filters
to de-select all of the objects for the selected dimension.
You can use
Reset Layout
to undo any custom sorting you have applied and reset the selected dimension to the default layout.
You can use
Sort Selected
to resort the list of objects for the selected dimension. With this filter applied, the objects you have selected move to the top of the column. Any type of sort you use to reorder this dimension change the sort order for the remaining objects, but the selected objects stay at the top of the list.
Selected Objects Icon
This icon displays the number of objects in this dimension that match the current filter settings. Note that the objects you select in one dimension impact the number of objects in the other dimensions. As an example, consider a BIG-IQ managing 20 BIG-IP devices that each have 100 virtual servers. Initially, on the Virtual Servers overview screen, the selected objects icon in the BIG-IP Host Names dimension reads 20, and the selected objects icon on the Virtual Servers dimension reads 2000. If you select one BIG-IP device, the icon for virtual servers changes to 100. On the other hand, if you select one of the virtual servers, the icon for BIG-IP devices would change to 1 (unless that virtual server happens to reside on more than one device).
Filtered Objects Icon
This icon displays the number of objects you have selected in this dimension. You can also click this icon to de-select all objects in this dimension.
Comparison Charts
Comparison charts allow you to plot data values for selected items in a
new chart. When you initially create a comparison chart, you select the statistical metric
that you want to compare. When the comparison chart displays, the title for the new chart
displays which items are selected for comparison, along with the metric being compared,
followed by a down arrow icon. You can click that down arrow if you want to change the
comparison metric for the selected objects. To compare additional items, you can create
additional comparison charts by again selecting multiple items, right clicking and choosing
Create Comparison Chart, and selecting the statistical metric you want to compare.
How do events and event controls work?
Events overview
Once you enable Events in the time controls, you can find these
events in the charts that display Device, Local Traffic and Web Application Security
data (
Monitoring
DASHBOARDS
), and in the charts that display specific application and BIG-IP device
data (
Applications
APPLICATIONS
or
Applications
ENVIRONMENTS
Service Scaling Groups
).
Events displayed in statistics charts provide you with insights about
changes in application traffic or device resource data that might require attention or
mitigation. An event includes any non-statistical measure that is reported by your
BIG-IP device. Events usually indicate how the system was disrupted as a result of
traffic changes, changes in system objects, or attacks. You can use events to identify
if and when a specific occurrence affected an object's performance.
Event Controls
This figure shows a close up of the event controls on a typical
overview screen. To view a screen similar to this, click
Monitoring
DASHBOARDS
Device
Health
. The event controls allow you to: identify when a specific change in data
occurred, filter events according to type (Category) or severity (Log Level), and view
details of specific events.
Overview of event details
The table defines key elements
.
User interface control
What does this control do?
Event Indicator
This control displays, below the chart area, the events
table, which lists all events that occurred at a specific time. Click an
event indicator to display the event table.
The indicator number displays the number of detected
events at that time. This number adjusts to reflect changes to the time
focus.
Events are color-coded according to their Category color.
When more than one event category event occurs at a time, the indicator
shape changes. You can view the event category breakdown by hovering the
cursor over the indicator, as shown in the figure.
Categories
Use this control to filter the events displayed in the
chart by category. Each category indicates the type of the reported event.
Categories provide an organization structure that can
indicate the nature or origin of each event. Each category is color-coded,
and the number indicates the quantity of events from that category that are
displayed in the chart. De-selecting a category (marked in gray) directly
impacts the corresponding quantities in the log-levels and the events
displayed in the chart.
Log Levels
Use this control to filter by log level the events that
are displayed in the chart. Each log level indicates the severity of the
reported event.
Log levels indicate the severity of each event. Log
levels are listed in descending order of severity, where
cleared
indicates that the
triggered event has now returned to a normal status. De-selecting a log
level (marked in gray) directly impacts the corresponding quantities in the
categories and the events displayed in the chart.
By default, notice and info log levels are not
selected.
Event Search
Use this field to enter key words that filter
the events displayed in the events table.
Event Table
Use the event table to review details of the
events selected from the chart area. Click the table rows to view additional
event details.
What is different about a DNS statistics
overview screen?
This figure shows a typical DNS statistics overview screen. To view a screen similar to this,
click
Monitoring
DASHBOARDS
DNS
Overview
. Until you configure statistics collection, there won't be any data. You can
use the time controls to focus on a time period of interest, similar to other overview
screens. However, there are unique elements on this screen that provide you with a quick
overview summarizing the DNS traffic performance on your managed devices.
Typical DNS Sync group statistics
overview screen
Key elements of this screen are defined in the table.
User interface control
What does this part of the screen do?
Time Controls
Adjusts the time window for which statistics are displayed. For details on how these
controls work, see
How do the time controls work?
Dashlets
These small windows serve similarly to the gauges on a dashboard, providing a current
performance readout for key performance statistics.
Chart Pane
Displays a series of charts that plot the collected statistics. For details on how
to manipulate these charts, see
How does the chart pane work?
Request Type Distribution
This chart graphs the types of request that are currently being processed by this DNS
sync group.
Response Errors vs Success
This chart graphs the DNS sync group's success rate in processing requests relative
to the number of requests that result in errors.
Dimensions Pane
Determines the objects for which you display statistics. For details on how the
controls on this pane work, see
