Timechart

A Timechart is a graph produced by applying statistical aggregation to a label over an interval. The X-axis of a timechart will always be time.

Timecharts allow you to see the change in metric value over time. The amount of data visualized on a graph is dependent on the time selection selected within the Dashboard. You can aggregate metrics from multiple sources into a single line, or graph a line per combination of segment labels.

Time aggregation: For example, the average value of sysdig_host_cpu_used_percent metric is computed for each entity over 1 hour at 1-minute intervals.

Group Rollup: For each host_hostName the values from time aggregation are averaged over the scope and the top 10 segments are shown on the chart.

For information on configuring a chart, see Create a New Panel.

Types of Timecharts

TypePreview
Line

Stacked Area

Stacked Bars

Timechart look and feel can be configured under Display settings when configuring a panel.

When to Use

TypeUse case
LineWhen quickly identifying outlier segments is important.
When plotting a single metric over time.
Stacked AreaWhen an aggregate view of segments is needed.
Stacked BarsWhen metrics are sometimes reporting zero.

Granularity

PromQL-based panels and Form-based panels follow different rules when it comes to choosing which data granularity to use when displaying time series.

PromQL-Based Panels

PromQL-based panels dynamically choose the appropriate granularity in order to balance maximum resolution with acceptable performance. For a 10-second granular metric such as sysdig_container_cpu_used_percent, the below table can be used as a reference.

Time IntervalSampling usedNumber of data points displayed
10 minutes10 seconds60 data points
1 hour10 seconds360 data points
6 hours1 minute360 data points
12 hours1 minute720 data points
1 day10 minutes144 data points
4 days1 hour96 data points
1 week1 hour168 data points
2 weeks1 hour336 data points

Timecharts are optimised to refresh as soon as new data is available. As a consequence, if a dashboard contains timechart as well as non-timechart panels, the former might have a higher refresh date.

Form-Based Panels

For SaaS users, form-based panel granularity is now equivalent to PromQL panels. More details here.

Form-based panels follow a static rule when choosing the sampling to use per query.

Time IntervalSampling used
< 20 minutes10 seconds
< 2 hours1 minute
< 1 day10 minutes
< 14 days1 hour
>= 14 days1 days