Global Application Delivery dashlet (Real User Analyzer)

Use the Global Application Delivery dashlet to identify problems in traffic volume and performance that end users are experiencing in various locations. For example where the highest traffic comes from or which area has the biggest performance issues. The following topics describe how to configure and use this dashlet:

Global Application Delivery dashlet overview

The Global Application Delivery dashlet enables you to compare the performance and end-user experience of your web application by geographic location.

Global Application Delivery dashlet, Map View

A Global Application Delivery dashlet is based  geographic performance-compliance levels (Geo PCLs) that you configure and enable. Geo PCLs characterize the end-user experience of server or application performance in a given region as Satisfied, Tolerating, or Frustrated. Performance measures how well a server or an application instance is functioning, by using the E2E Latency or the Page-Render Time metrics. For definitions of these metrics, see End-user experience metrics.

Working with a dashlet on a mobile device

The way that you work with a dashlet on mobile devices differs from the way that you work with it on a computer:

• The Safari browser on iPad does not provide full screen possibilities for a dashlet. To optimize the dashlet for this browser, click .
• Use standard touch screen gestures to zoom the dashlet in and out.
• Because there is no right click on mobile devices, the Action menu is unavailable.

Monitoring options

On the Global Application Delivery dashlet, you can monitor and view information in the following ways:

• In a map view
• In a grid view
• By filtering
• Using live or historical data

Monitoring data in a Map View

By default, the dashlet represents data on a map. It highlights areas on the map where users experienced issues with traffic volume and performance.

To inspect regions data on the session level:

1. Click the bubble that represents the region in which you are interested.
2. In the tooltip that appears, click the Analyzer option to drill down to the Session Browser, where you can inspect all sessions from the selected region in greater detail.

Viewing detailed information in a Grid View

After you analyze data on the map, you can view more detailed information in the Grid View, where you can sort data by zone and latency values.

Global Application Delivery dashlet, Map View

Filtering the data displayed on the dashlet

You can filter data on the dashlet by using the display options panels for Map View and Grid View, shown in the following figure. You access either of these panels by using the arrow button on the right of the dashlet.

Display options panels

For example, in Map View you can use controls on the Display options panel to show only areas where end users are characterized as Frustrated, or only areas reporting high traffic volume.

Viewing live or historical data

You can see live data on the dashlet as the system collects it, or you can browse historical data for the last 72 hours or the last 30 days. You can also use the timeline selector to view data for a specific time. The Global Application Delivery dashlet shows data in the time zone configured on the Real User Analyzer and Collector components.

Using the time selector in the Grid View

The system aggregates data for each time period option as follows:

• Every five minutes for live data
• Every five minutes for the last 72 hours 
• Every hour for the last 30 days

You can play back changes in traffic and Geo PCL data on the map for the last 72 hours or the last 30 days by dragging the timeline selector to the date from which you want to replay data and clicking the Play button (  ).

Configuring the dashlet

The dashlet is available in both the Real User Analyzer and the TrueSight console; however, you configure it differently on each component. When configuring the Global Application Delivery dashlet, you must specify the following items for both components:

• Geo PCL definition to associate with the dashlet
• Data display method for the map
• Type of data aggregation

Geo PCL definition

A Geo PCL definition is a distinct entity that you configure to monitor end-user experience of your web application for a specific Watchpoint in the geographic zones that interest you. You can configure a Geo PCL definition for each web application that you want to monitor. The Geo PCL definition determines which areas are represented by circles on the map.

• To configure the Global Application dashlet on an Analyzer, identify the Geo PCL definition by selecting it.
• To configure the Global Application dashlet on the Console, identify the Geo PCL definition. You do that in the dashlet settings by selecting the same Page Watchpoint that is associated with the Geo PCL definition.

Data display for Map View

The Data display section determines how you display data on the map. By default, the system shows both Geo PCL and traffic volume data on the dashlet. You can change the dashlet settings to display only traffic volume data or only Geo PCL data. You can select from the following options:

• Geo PCL and traffic volume data—Each area is represented by green, yellow, or red circle to indicate whether end users are Satisfied, Tolerating, or Frustrated. Large circles indicate high traffic volume, and small circles indicate low traffic volume.
• Geo PCL data only—Each area is represented by green, yellow, or red circle to indicate whether end users are Satisfied, Tolerating, or Frustrated. All circles are the same size.
• Traffic volume only—Areas are represented by circles of the same color (you can specify the color). Large circles indicate high traffic volume, while small circles indicate low traffic volume.

To select data display method on the map:

1. In the action menu for the dashlet, select Edit Settings.
2. In Data display, select the display method that you want.
3. Click Save.

Data aggregation for areas on the dashlet

To eliminate atypically high latency values or display all calculated values on the map as an average or maximum, you can select the calculation that the system uses to show data on the dashlet. By default, the dashlet aggregates data by calculating the 85th percentile of all latency values for each time period in a given area. For 85% of users in a particular area, latency is equal to or below the value displayed on the dashlet, representing typical experience of your web application. You can use other percentiles to aggregate data on the dashlet, or configure the dashlet to calculate the average or maximum value for the latency values for each time period in a specific area.

To configure the dashlet on the Analyzer component

1. On the Analyzer component, add a Global Application Delivery dashlet to the dashboard.
2. On the dashlet shortcut menu, click Edit settings.
3. Configure basic settings for the dashlet, as follows:
   • In the Geo PCL definition list, click the Geo PCL definition for which you want data displayed.
   • In the Data display section:
     • Select the data that you want the map to show: Geo PCL, traffic volume data, or both.
     • Select the calculation that you want to use.
     • Specify the size for the circles that represent traffic volume (in pixels).

4. (Optional) Configure advanced settings for the dashlet, as follows:

   • To display timelines that show performance compliance by area over time, select the Geo PCL timelines check box.
     Geo PCL timelines are only displayed in the views for the last 72 hours and last 30 days.
   • To display the live status ticker, select the Ticker check box and specify the following options:
     • Enter the maximum number of areas that you want the ticker to display.
     • In the Sort areas by list, specify how you want to sort areas in the ticker:
       • To sort the areas on the ticker by the amount of traffic coming from each area, click Traffic volume.
       • To sort the areas according to traffic volume change in a specific area, click Requests (absolute number) or Percent (relative value).
       • To sort areas alphabetically by name, click Name.
     • If you want the ticker to report only areas where the traffic has changed by a certain percent since the last time frame, enter a value in the Only report traffic volume changes greater than or equal to text box.
     • To display the origin location marker, click the Show origin location marker check box and type the public IP address of your web server.
5. Click Save.

Getting details about data on the dashlet

To display the value that a point on a graph represents, click the bubble on the graph.

Getting details in Map View

To get the information that a cell in the Grid View represents, move the pointer over the needed area. A tooltip shows the details.

Getting details in Grid View

To highlight recent changes on the dashlet or trends over time, you can configure the dashlet to display Geo PCL timelines or a live status ticker.

• Geo PCL timelines — Available only for Last 72 hours and Last 30 days intervals.
  Geo PCL timelines are graphs that display performance compliance data for each area over the past 72 hours or 30 days.
• Live status ticker — Available only in Live mode. The live status ticker displays traffic volume and performance compliance changes that occurred since the last five-minute time frame was displayed.
  
  You can configure the ticker to display only a certain number of areas and sort by traffic volume or name.

Related topics

Dashlets to measure real end user experience monitoring

Building a dashboard on the Analyzer