Analog Operational Metrics Displays

This is a collection of analog operational metrics displays. When I'm not hacking on electronics, I'm working at Bizo. We process billions of page views monthly and 100s of terrabytes of data. Metrics are very important to us.

We're heavily invested in Amazon AWS. We have hundreds of machines running across 8 Amazon datacenters. All of these display integrate with live data feeds from Amazon (mostly using Cloudwatch or SNS/SQS). To read more about the technology behind Bizo, check out our development blog.

There's something really nice about these analog displays. You don't have as much resolution, but it's easier to notice some events without even thinking about it. Whether it's catching a glimpse of wild swinging meters, or hearing the mechanical clicking of event counters, it's almost like you have a sixth sense. There's no need to have a web app open looking at graphs. If something happens, you'll notice it.

Mini Maker Faire & Data Crush
Larry exhibiting the displays at the Strata Mini Maker Faire (photo by Pinar Ozger)

Analog Operational Meters

This is a simplification of another analog meter display I did awhile back.

A Processing sketch pulls stats down from Cloudwatch and interfaces with an Arduino running Firmata.

I really like the look of this display! There's a custom faceplate and stand I lasercut from some scrap acrylic, and of course the old-school embossed tape labels.

It's stylish, but not as functional as I'd like mainly because of the poor resolution of Cloudwatch. The maximum granularity is 1 minute, so the meters aren't swinging wildly as one would like. With the right data source, who knows though!

Still, it looks great, and it's easy to notice if something is off. Without having to read and think about a number, a quick look and you'll know if the meters are where they're supposed to be.

Event counters

These mechanical event counters only go up, so they only work for certain metrics. There'a also no easy way to reset them. The numbers end up being almost meaningless. They have a nice buzzing/clicking sound to them though, and maybe that's enough.

Exception Printer

Using an Arduino and a Thermal receipt printer, application exceptions are printed as receipt tickets.

Exceptions are recorded in the application using a custom java.util.logging.Handler and sent through amazon SNS. From there, they're sent to a web app, and an SQS queue which feeds this printer.

Like the other displays, there are some nice auditory and visual cues with this printer. It's easy to know when errors happen. You also get a nice physical record. I like to think about integrating this with a bug tracking system, so your issue number is printed and you can pick it up almost like a short-order ticket. Maybe the paper is also handy for writing down notes about the issue.

For reference, here's the standard view in our web app. Nice, but not as analog :).