Comments on: Would Tufte approve of mixing units on a graph? http://www.xaprb.com/blog/2008/10/09/would-tufte-approve-of-mixing-units-on-a-graph/ Stay curious! Mon, 05 Jan 2009 23:52:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Alan Rimm-Kaufman http://www.xaprb.com/blog/2008/10/09/would-tufte-approve-of-mixing-units-on-a-graph/#comment-15262 Alan Rimm-Kaufman Mon, 20 Oct 2008 01:32:10 +0000 http://www.xaprb.com/blog/?p=603#comment-15262 <i>You can graph the temperature on your server’s hard drives, or the Dow Jones Industrial Average, or whatever.<i> Don't graph the Dow -- too depressing. You can graph the temperature on your server’s hard drives, or the Dow Jones Industrial Average, or whatever.
Don’t graph the Dow — too depressing.

]]> By: Xaprb http://www.xaprb.com/blog/2008/10/09/would-tufte-approve-of-mixing-units-on-a-graph/#comment-15222 Xaprb Sun, 12 Oct 2008 17:44:19 +0000 http://www.xaprb.com/blog/?p=603#comment-15222 Found my answer -- RRDTool doesn't do a second y-axis, although it has been tossed around for years. Found my answer — RRDTool doesn’t do a second y-axis, although it has been tossed around for years.

]]> By: Xaprb http://www.xaprb.com/blog/2008/10/09/would-tufte-approve-of-mixing-units-on-a-graph/#comment-15219 Xaprb Sun, 12 Oct 2008 17:42:21 +0000 http://www.xaprb.com/blog/?p=603#comment-15219 Good point. I don't know if/how-easy RRDTool makes it to do that, but as far as I know Cacti doesn't let you do it. I think another acceptable fix is to simply have them in different graphs. By default Cacti shows all of a machine's graphs on a single page, so it is in fact easy to see the relationships between the events. Good point. I don’t know if/how-easy RRDTool makes it to do that, but as far as I know Cacti doesn’t let you do it.

I think another acceptable fix is to simply have them in different graphs. By default Cacti shows all of a machine’s graphs on a single page, so it is in fact easy to see the relationships between the events.

]]> By: peter s. paz http://www.xaprb.com/blog/2008/10/09/would-tufte-approve-of-mixing-units-on-a-graph/#comment-15217 peter s. paz Sun, 12 Oct 2008 17:34:05 +0000 http://www.xaprb.com/blog/?p=603#comment-15217 You problem is not the mixing of units on the graph. In fact, that's what you want to do, show relationships between events. The problem is not that you are mixing unit in the same graph, but in the same axis. This messes up the scaling, especially for items that have extreme values on the axis. A simple fix for the graph is to use the secondary axis (right hand) for the second set of units, and the scaling for the MB should pop back into the range to where you can really see what is going on. You problem is not the mixing of units on the graph. In fact, that’s what you want to do, show relationships between events. The problem is not that you are mixing unit in the same graph, but in the same axis. This messes up the scaling, especially for items that have extreme values on the axis.

A simple fix for the graph is to use the secondary axis (right hand) for the second set of units, and the scaling for the MB should pop back into the range to where you can really see what is going on.

]]> By: Ernesto Vargas http://www.xaprb.com/blog/2008/10/09/would-tufte-approve-of-mixing-units-on-a-graph/#comment-15192 Ernesto Vargas Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:35:58 +0000 http://www.xaprb.com/blog/?p=603#comment-15192 Baron is it cacti 0.8.7 compatible? Baron is it cacti 0.8.7 compatible?

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