Dashboard Overview

The Nodewarden dashboard is your central hub for monitoring infrastructure, applications, and services. This guide walks you through every feature and helps you get the most out of your monitoring setup.

Dashboard Layout

Navigation Structure

The dashboard is organized into several main sections:

Main Navigation

• Dashboard - Overview of all systems and key metrics
• Hosts - Individual server and device monitoring
• Alerts - Alert management and notification history
• Metrics - Detailed metric exploration and analysis
• Analytics - Usage patterns and performance insights
• Team - User management and permissions
• Settings - Account configuration and preferences

Quick Access

• Search Bar - Find hosts, alerts, or metrics quickly
• Notification Center - Recent alerts and system messages
• User Menu - Account settings and logout
• Help Center - Documentation and support access

Main Dashboard

Overview Cards

The main dashboard provides at-a-glance information about your infrastructure:

System Health

• Hosts Online: Number of active monitoring agents
• Active Alerts: Current alert count by severity
• Data Points: Metrics collected in the last hour
• Uptime: Overall system availability percentage

Performance Metrics

• Average Response Time: Across all monitored services
• CPU Usage: Average across all hosts
• Memory Usage: Total and average memory consumption
• Disk Usage: Storage utilization summary

Real-Time Charts

Infrastructure Overview

Visual representations of your entire infrastructure:

• Host Status Map: Geographic or logical grouping of hosts
• Service Health: Status of discovered services
• Resource Utilization: CPU, memory, disk trends
• Network Traffic: Bandwidth usage patterns

Time Series Data

Customizable charts showing:

• Metric trends over time (1h, 6h, 24h, 7d, 30d)
• Comparative views across multiple hosts
• Anomaly detection highlights
• Performance baselines and thresholds

Status Indicators

Color Coding System

• 🟢 Green: Healthy, normal operation
• 🟡 Yellow: Warning, attention needed
• 🔴 Red: Critical, immediate action required
• ⚫ Gray: Unknown or offline

Status Details

Click any status indicator to see:

• Last update timestamp
• Specific metric values
• Historical trend
• Related alerts or issues

Hosts Section

Host List View

Host Information

Each host displays:

• Hostname: System identifier
• IP Address: Network location
• Operating System: OS type and version
• Agent Version: Monitoring agent version
• Last Seen: Most recent data timestamp
• Status: Overall health indicator

Sorting and Filtering

• Sort by: Name, status, last seen, CPU, memory
• Filter by: Status, OS type, location, tags
• Search: Find specific hosts by name or IP
• Grouping: Organize by environment, role, or custom tags

Individual Host Details

Click any host to access detailed monitoring:

System Overview

• Basic Information: Hardware specs, OS details
• Resource Usage: Real-time CPU, memory, disk, network
• Process List: Running processes and resource consumption
• Service Status: Discovered services and their health

Performance Charts

• CPU Usage: Core-by-core utilization over time
• Memory Usage: RAM and swap utilization
• Disk I/O: Read/write operations and latency
• Network Traffic: Bandwidth usage by interface

Historical Data

• Metric History: Trends over days, weeks, months
• Performance Baselines: Normal operating ranges
• Anomaly Detection: Unusual behavior highlighting
• Capacity Planning: Growth trends and projections

Alerts Section

Alert Management

Alert List

View all alerts with:

• Severity: Critical, warning, info levels
• Status: Open, acknowledged, resolved
• Timestamp: When the alert was triggered
• Host/Service: What triggered the alert
• Description: Details about the condition

Alert Actions

• Acknowledge: Mark as seen/being handled
• Resolve: Close the alert manually
• Snooze: Temporarily silence for a period
• Escalate: Forward to another team member
• Add Notes: Document investigation or resolution

Alert Rules

Creating Alert Rules

Set up monitoring conditions:

1. Select Metric: Choose what to monitor
2. Set Threshold: Define trigger conditions
3. Configure Actions: Choose notification methods
4. Test Rule: Verify it works as expected

Alert Conditions

• Threshold-based: Trigger when value exceeds limit
• Anomaly-based: Detect unusual patterns
• Composite: Combine multiple conditions
• Time-based: Consider duration of condition

Notification Channels

• Email: Send to individuals or groups
• Slack: Post to channels or DMs
• Webhooks: Integrate with external systems
• SMS: Critical alerts via text message
• PagerDuty: Escalation and on-call management

Metrics Section

Metric Explorer

Data Exploration

• Metric Browser: Navigate available metrics
• Time Range Selection: Choose analysis period
• Aggregation Options: Sum, average, min, max, percentiles
• Grouping: By host, service, custom tags

Chart Builder

Create custom visualizations:

• Chart Types: Line, area, bar, pie, heatmap
• Multiple Series: Compare different metrics
• Annotations: Mark important events
• Export Options: PNG, PDF, CSV formats

Custom Dashboards

Dashboard Creation

Build personalized monitoring views:

1. Create Dashboard: Choose name and description
2. Add Widgets: Select chart types and metrics
3. Arrange Layout: Position and size widgets
4. Share Access: Control who can view/edit

Widget Types

• Time Series Charts: Trend analysis over time
• Single Value: Current metric displays
• Tables: Tabular data presentation
• Status Boards: Service health overviews
• Maps: Geographic or network topology views

Team Management

User Roles

Role Permissions

• Viewer: Read-only access to dashboards and alerts
• Editor: Create/modify dashboards and alert rules
• Admin: Full access including user management
• Owner: Complete control including billing

Access Control

• Host-level: Restrict access to specific servers
• Dashboard-level: Control who sees what views
• Alert-level: Manage who receives notifications
• Feature-level: Enable/disable specific capabilities

Team Collaboration

Sharing Features

• Dashboard Sharing: Public links and embedded views
• Alert Sharing: Forward alerts to team members
• Annotation Sharing: Add notes to charts
• Report Sharing: Scheduled report distribution

Settings

Account Configuration

Profile Settings

• Personal Information: Name, email, avatar
• Notification Preferences: How you receive alerts
• Time Zone: Display preferences for timestamps
• Theme: Light, dark, or auto mode

API Management

• API Keys: Generate keys for programmatic access
• Webhooks: Configure outbound integrations
• Rate Limits: Monitor API usage
• Security: View access logs and sessions

Integration Setup

Third-Party Integrations

• Slack: Connect team communication
• PagerDuty: Incident management workflow
• JIRA: Automatic ticket creation
• GitHub: Development workflow integration
• Datadog: Metric forwarding (migration)

Mobile Experience

Mobile Dashboard

The Nodewarden dashboard is fully responsive and optimized for mobile devices:

Mobile Features

• Touch-optimized Interface: Easy navigation on phones/tablets
• Offline Viewing: Cached data when network is unavailable
• Push Notifications: Real-time alerts on mobile devices
• Quick Actions: Acknowledge alerts, view details

Mobile-Specific Views

• Simplified Navigation: Streamlined menu structure
• Key Metrics: Essential information prominently displayed
• Swipe Gestures: Intuitive chart interaction
• One-handed Operation: Designed for single-hand use

Keyboard Shortcuts

Navigation Shortcuts

• D - Go to main Dashboard
• H - Open Hosts section
• A - View Alerts
• M - Open Metrics explorer
• S - Open Settings
• / - Focus search bar
• ? - Show help overlay

Dashboard Shortcuts

• R - Refresh current view
• F - Enter fullscreen mode
• E - Edit current dashboard
• N - Create new dashboard
• ← → - Navigate between dashboards

Best Practices

Dashboard Organization

Logical Grouping

• Environment-based: Separate prod, staging, dev
• Service-based: Group by application or function
• Team-based: Different views for different teams
• Severity-based: Focus on critical vs. informational

Performance Optimization

• Limit Widget Count: Too many widgets slow loading
• Appropriate Time Ranges: Don't query unnecessary data
• Efficient Filters: Use specific host/service filters
• Cache-friendly Queries: Align with data retention

Monitoring Hygiene

Regular Maintenance

• Review Alerts: Remove obsolete or noisy rules
• Update Thresholds: Adjust based on normal behavior
• Clean Up Hosts: Remove decommissioned systems
• Archive Old Data: Manage historical data retention

Documentation

• Dashboard Descriptions: Explain purpose and usage
• Alert Documentation: Include troubleshooting steps
• Runbooks: Link to resolution procedures
• Change Logs: Track modifications and reasons

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Missing Data

Symptoms: Charts show gaps or no data Solutions:

• Check agent connectivity: Host Details → Last Seen
• Verify time range selection
• Confirm metric collection is enabled
• Review agent logs for errors

Slow Loading

Symptoms: Dashboard takes long to load Solutions:

• Reduce time range for large datasets
• Limit number of hosts in view
• Simplify complex queries
• Check network connectivity

Alert Noise

Symptoms: Too many false positive alerts Solutions:

• Adjust alert thresholds based on baselines
• Add alert conditions (e.g., duration requirements)
• Use anomaly detection instead of static thresholds
• Implement alert dependencies

Getting Help

Built-in Help

• Tool Tips: Hover over interface elements
• Help Center: Access documentation from dashboard
• Guided Tours: Interactive feature introductions
• What's New: Latest feature announcements

Support Channels

• Email: support@nodewarden.com
• Chat: In-dashboard support chat
• Community: Join our Slack
• Knowledge Base: docs.nodewarden.com

Next Steps

Now that you understand the dashboard:

1. Set Up Alerts - Configure notifications for important events
2. Custom Dashboards - Create personalized monitoring views
3. Team Management - Add team members and set permissions
4. Integration Guide - Connect with your existing tools
5. Advanced Features - Explore power-user capabilities

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Ready to customize your monitoring experience? Check out our Dashboard Customization Guide for advanced tips and tricks.