Viewing correlated metrics

Correlation analysis finds the correlation between metrics. In TrueSight Intelligence, correlation analysis enables you to select a primary, or base, metric and get a list of correlated metrics. This analysis can be helpful in performing a root cause analysis for changes that affect the performance of your systems. It can also be used for impact analysis to see what impact an abnormal change in a metric is having on the rest of the application.

To view correlated metrics

Select any metric that is collected from any source to view its details.
Click the action menu next to the metric name and select Correlate.
A correlation analysis finds and displays metrics that correlate with the selected metric.
If a metric correlation analysis takes more than several seconds, a dialog box opens that enables you to run the correlation analysis in the background.
To view details about previous correlation analyses, click the action menu next to the metric name and select Recent Correlation Analyses.
Details are displayed for the five most recent correlation analyses that were run in the last seven days:
- Time Started—Time and date that the correlation analysis started. Click the the start time to see the specific analysis.
- Status—Status of the analysis (In Progress, Finished)
- From and To—Time and date range of the analysis

Metric Correlation page

The correlation algorithm, by default, correlates the selected metric with all other metrics within the same application. If the metric is not associated to an application, it is correlated with all metrics in the account. The currently selected time range is used to perform the correlation.

The metric correlation results view shows a graph with the primary metric and up to five of the most highly correlated metrics to the primary metric. Additional correlated metrics are displayed in the table below, and are sorted to first display the metrics with the highest correlation. Select the check box corresponding to a metric to remove or add it to the graph.

After reviewing the initial correlation results, you can adjust the time range or the available filters on the left to run a new correlation analysis.

Parts of the Metric Correlation page

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Charts and correlated metrics list (Section A)

Below the chart are details of the correlated metrics. The first row displays the primary metric selected for correlation analysis. The metrics correlated to the primary metric are displayed in the following rows, with the highest correlation displayed first.

The following details are displayed below the chart:

Metric: Name and units of the correlated metric
Correlation: Correlation coefficient for the metrics.
The correlation calculated in TrueSight Intelligence is the Pearson Correlation Coefficient. It is reported as a value between -1 and +1.
Lead/Lag: Indicates if the correlation determined takes a time lead/lag, with respect to the primary metric, into consideration. For instance, if a metric leads by n number of minutes, it means that the leading metric is a probable cause. However, if a metric correlates with the primary metric with a lag, the primary metric is a probable cause.
Source: Name of the source to which the metric belongs.
Chart: Displays a thumbnail for the metric for the selected time period and provides an indicator of the color used for plotting the metric in the correlation chart. Click this thumbnail to display a larger chart for the metric.

Time range (Section B)

When you analyze the primary metric data series with each of the other metric data series, the time-series data is compared only within the selected time period. Change the time period of the analysis to see a potentially vast change in the results.

Tip

To get the best results when you try to correlate some abnormal behavior in the primary metric, zoom in on the chart so that the abnormal behavior takes up at least 50% of the displayed time period.

Settings and filters (Section C)

Use the following options to fine-tune the correlation results. Click Re-Analyze to run the correlation analysis again after updating any of the available settings or time range for the analysis.

Correlation

Drag the slider to select the coefficient range to match the correlated metrics. Select the positive or negative check box, or both, to display results for metrics that have a corresponding correlation. By default, the slider is set to the extreme right, and both check boxes are selected, which indicates that all metrics with a correlation coefficient between -1 and +1 are displayed. To filter the displayed results, drag the slider and change the check box selection.

For example, if you adjust the slider from 0.3 to 0.9, positive is selected, and negative is cleared, then only correlated metrics with a positive correlation coefficient from 0.3 through 0.9 are displayed.

Lead/Lag Analysis

View correlated metrics that might not have correlated data points at the same time. For example, you might see a time difference between the primary metric and its influence on a metric from a source in another continent. You can customize the Time Window to set the number of hours considered for the analysis.

Scope

Select to get correlated metrics from the application or from all metrics in TrueSight Intelligence.

Metric

Select one or more metrics to limit the correlation analysis to the selected metrics. You can also use the search box to find a specific metric.

Source

Select one or more sources to limit the correlation analysis to metric instances from the specified sources. You can also use the search box to find a specific source

Additional filters

You can select one or more additional filters to apply to the correlation results:

KPI Only—Limit the correlation analysis to KPI metrics
Abnormal Only—View correlated metrics that only have abnormality events in the selected duration