Options for graph scaling for container average CPU and MEM usage

[ambarbour]

Describe the feature you would like to see

I have difficulty visualizing the container CPU and MEM usage with graphs in the latest UI. It can be hard to distinguish between even a 10x difference, particularly with many containers.

We have a server with 128GB memory that often runs about 25 containers, all with typical memory usage around 1-2GB. I used to be able to quickly see if any container was using excessive memory, but now it is hard to see the difference between 2GB and 20GB without close inspection.

Describe how you would like to see this feature implemented

I am guessing that the container CPU and MEM graphs are currently showing percentages of the total available on the host server. It would be nice to have options on how to scale those graphs, such as:

• as is, a percentage of total available
• a percentage of the total server used, not available - effectively just increases the scale
• a percentage of the container maximum usage - useful for container relative comparison
• any other way to increase relative visibility..?

To be clear, this only applies to the container graphs. I think the host graph at the top and the container numbers are all fine as is. It would just be great to be able to change the container graph scaling so that anomalies quickly grab your attention.

Describe any alternatives you've considered

No response

[amir20]

I think what you are asking is instead of making the bar chart's max 100% it should be max(data). So essentially it auto adjusts. Which is I think it is what it was doing before with D3?

Can you provide screenshots? I want to understand what it looks like with 128GB.

[ambarbour]

Thanks for the quick reply!

Yes I agree with your suggestion, which is more or less my 3rd option and the one I would choose if I could. So if you just want to pick one calculation then I think that one is a winner.

Here is how it used to look, v8.14 (only showing first 10 containers..):

And here is how it looks with the new UI, v9.0:

[amir20]

Wait, I misunderstood. I thought you meant the container page, but you are referring to the home page.

However, the same chart is used on the container chart.

I question whether normalizing would be the right solution. If normalized, all bars would be at 100%, which is not your intention.

Can you think more mathematically about what should happen?

The one change in v9 is that CPU is now normalized. Previously, it was a value between 0 and (cores x 100%). Now, it ranges from 0 to 100%.

Based on your screenshots, it works as designed because now total RAM usage in bytes is displayed.

[ambarbour]

My apologies for not being clear, I should have said I was talking about the home page only.

All I really want is to have a clearly visible indicator that a container is using more memory than others. The numbers are fine, just not the graph scale. For example, in my first screenshot it is clear that the containers with more green are using more memory than the ones with barely any green. In the second screenshot it is not clear, I have to sort and/or look at the numbers.

Mathematically I realize that the main challenge is that the graph now represents a timeseries, not just a current value.

Let me think about this some more and I will comment further.

[amir20]

The space just doesn't allow for it to have a better option. I think for a single container it makes sense to normalize. But there needs to be a relative value to normalize.

One option is to take the biggest value amongst ALL containers and use that as that max. I am not sure if it makes sense to do that because to someone it might feel like it's using a lot when it's just the biggest value amongst a bunch of small numbers.