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Timelion tutorial: Create visualizations with mathematical functions

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Timelion tutorial: Create visualizations with mathematical functions

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To create a visualization for inbound and outbound network traffic, use mathematical functions.

Define the functions

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To start tracking the inbound and outbound network traffic, enter the following in the Timelion Expression field:

.es(index=metricbeat*,
    timefield=@timestamp,
    metric=max:system.network.in.bytes)

Plot the rate of change

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Change how the data is displayed so that you can easily monitor the inbound traffic:

.es(index=metricbeat*,
    timefield=@timestamp,
    metric=max:system.network.in.bytes)
  .derivative()

.derivative plots the change in values over time.

Add a similar calculation for outbound traffic:

.es(index=metricbeat*,
    timefield=@timestamp,
    metric=max:system.network.in.bytes)
  .derivative(),
.es(index=metricbeat*,
    timefield=@timestamp,
    metric=max:system.network.out.bytes)
  .derivative()
  .multiply(-1)

.multiply() multiplies the data series by a number, the result of a data series, or a list of data series. For this example, .multiply(-1) converts the outbound network traffic to a negative value since the outbound network traffic is leaving your machine.

Change the data metric

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To make the visualization easier to analyze, change the data metric from bytes to megabytes:

.es(index=metricbeat*,
    timefield=@timestamp,
    metric=max:system.network.in.bytes)
  .derivative()
  .divide(1048576),
.es(index=metricbeat*,
    timefield=@timestamp,
    metric=max:system.network.out.bytes)
  .derivative()
  .multiply(-1)
  .divide(1048576)

.divide() accepts the same input as .multiply(), then divides the data series by the defined divisor.

Customize and format the visualization

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Customize and format the visualization using functions:

.es(index=metricbeat*,
    timefield=@timestamp,
    metric=max:system.network.in.bytes)
  .derivative()
  .divide(1048576)
  .lines(fill=2, width=1)
  .color(green)
  .label("Inbound traffic")         
  .title("Network traffic (MB/s)"), 
.es(index=metricbeat*,
    timefield=@timestamp,
    metric=max:system.network.out.bytes)
  .derivative()
  .multiply(-1)
  .divide(1048576)
  .lines(fill=2, width=1)           
  .color(blue)                      
  .label("Outbound traffic")
  .legend(columns=2, position=nw)

	`.label()` adds custom labels to the visualization.
	`.title()` adds a title with a meaningful name.
	`.lines()` changes the appearance of the chart lines. In this example, `.lines(fill=2, width=1)` sets the fill level to `2`, and the border width to `1`.
	`.color()` changes the color of the data. Supported color types include standard color names, hexadecimal values, or a color schema for grouped data. In this example, `.color(green)` represents the inbound network traffic, and `.color(blue)` represents the outbound network traffic.
	`.legend()` sets the position and style of the legend. For this example, `legend(columns=2, position=nw)` places the legend in the north west position of the visualization with two columns.

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