Visualizing predictive time series data

As a tenant administrator, an editor, or a viewer, use the BMC Time Series Forecast visualization plug-in to view predictive data on a dashboard. By using this plug-in, you can access the time series data from the following products:

  • BMC Helix AIOps
  • BMC Helix Continuous Optimization
  • BMC Helix Cloud Security
  • BMC Helix Intelligent Automation
  • BMC Helix Log Analytics
  • BMC Helix Operations Management


Related topics

Out-of-the-box-visualization-plugins

Visualizing-data
Using BMC Helix Dashboards functionality in BMC Helix Continuous Optimization


Example: View the predictive server operations data

A tenant administrator can view the forecast of the back-end operations for the next 2 months by using the BMC Time Series Forecast visualization plug-in:

backend_operation_forecast_22_3.png

To create a dashboard by using the BMC Time Series Forecast plug-in

  1. From the navigation menu menu_icon.png, click Dashboards.
  2. Click Add visualization.
  3. In the Query section, select the data source (For example, BMC Helix) and add your queries.
    For instructions, see Configuring-dashboards-with-additional-customizations.
  4. On the Panel tab, expand Visualizations and select BMC Time Series Forecast.
    forecast_plugin_24.2.png

  5. Expand the following tabs and configure the settings:


Setting

Configuration

Panel options

Title and description

Specify a panel title and optional description.

Transparent background

Specify whether you want to use the transparent background for the panel.

Panel links

Add one or more links to navigate to other content.

Repeat options

Select a variable. The panel is created for each variable value.
Important: The panel creation options are not visible in the edit mode. To view these options, navigate to the dashboard and update the variable or reload the dashboard.

BMC Time Series Forecast

Algorithm type

Select the type of algorithm to calculate predictive data. 
By default, AUTOMATIC is selected.
Best practice: We recommend that you use the AUTOMATIC algorithm type for viewing better predictive time series data. For details on all algorithms, see Algorithm types.

Show/hide the confidence bands

Select this option to show the confidence bands in the panel.

Future period

Select the period for which predictive data is calculated and displayed in the dashboard. In the example screenshot, 2 months is selected as the future period.

Forecast metric

Select the metric for which predictive data is calculated and displayed in the dashboard. 

Threshold based on metric

Select this option to show the thresholds based on the metric series so that you can visualize and analyze how the forecast metric behaves relative to a threshold metric. For example, you can compare and analyze the data for TOTAL_STORAGE_USED (forecast metric) with TOTAL_STORAGE_PROVISIONED (threshold metric).  

When this option is disabled, all metrics except for the metric defined in Forecast metric are displayed as a metric threshold.

To specify fixed values for thresholds, see Setting fixed thresholds.

Threshold metric 

(Displayed when Threshold based on metric is selected)

Select the metric whose data is considered as a threshold to compare with the forecast metric. 

Threshold percentage

(Displayed when Threshold based on metric is selected)

Specify a value between 0 to 100 that represents the percentage of the threshold metric data. For example, if you set this value to 90 and TOTAL_STORAGE_PROVISIONED is 200, threshold lines for both 200 and 180 are displayed along with the forecast metric value. 

Axis

Placement


Select the placement of the axis. By default, Auto is selected. 

(Not displayed when Placement is Hidden) Label


 Specify a label for the axis.

(Not displayed when Placement is Hidden) Width


Set a fixed width for the axis.

Show grid lines

Specify the axis grid line visibility. By default, Auto is selected. It automatically shows grid lines based on the density of the data.

Color

Specify whether to set the axis color based on text or series. 

Scale

Specify the scale for the axis. 

  • Linear: Divides the scale into equal parts.
  • Logarithmic: Uses a logarithmic scale. When you select this option, you can select a log base from a binary (base 2) or common (base 10) logarithmic scale.
  • Symlog: Uses a symmetrical logarithmic scale. When you select this option, you can select a log base from a binary (base 2) or common (base 10) logarithmic scale. Additionally, you can set the threshold at which the scale changes from linear to logarithmic.

Centered zero

Select this option to set the axis centered on zero.

Soft min and soft max

Specify the soft min and soft max range for better control of axis limits. The axis might not consider the user-defined range if the graph data is out of the min and max range.

Standard options

Unit

Select a unit for all fields in the visualization or define a custom unit. 

Decimals

Enter the number of decimals to be used in the rendered value. 

Color scheme

Select a color theme for your visualization.

 Thresholds

Default values

When the Show thresholds setting is not Off, the following threshold values are used by default: 

  • 80 with the red color 
  • Base with the green color 

+ Add threshold

Enter a new threshold value or use the up and down arrows at the right side of the field to update the value. Click the colored circle to update the threshold color from the color picker. 

Thresholds mode

Select the mode for the threshold. 

  • Absolute: Thresholds are defined by a number. By default, Absolute is selected. 
  • Percentage: Thresholds are defined relative to minimum or maximum; for example, 80 percent. 

Show thresholds

Specify how thresholds are displayed in the visualization. The default value is Off. 

For details about settings in some of the tabs, see Time series.

 

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