Any user can create a dashboard. However, users can create only simple dashboards before configuring the product. For example, you cannot configure dashlets that list the status of the top five processes in your business-critical system until someone configures the servers and details to monitor.
A dashlet displays a single graphic about a specific application or server. As you build your dashboard, you specify a dashlet template, and then configure it to the values for your systems. You can specify different types of dashlets or the same dashlet many times.
You have numerous layout options when constructing dashboards. When configuring the layout, you can choose a single column in one row, or as many as four columns and an unlimited number of rows. In addition, you are not limited to one dashlet in a cell. In the earlier example, the dashboard contains a single row, but each column contains two dashlets. The ability to place multiple dashlets in each column of a row enables you to group similar items in your dashboard. During dashlet configuration, you can also specify the relative height of the dashlet. The dashboard in the following image provides an example of how you might organize three dashlets in a dashboard with two rows.
Consolidating data views with dashboards