How to integrate and visualize your external data
SquaredUp DS brings together data from your existing platforms and tools on-demand, creating interactive, consistent dashboards and drilldowns for real-time insights and better decision making.
It's not just about data from SCOM, but from a whole range of data sources:
- Web API for data from any REST API
- PowerShell to visualize and combine data from virtually any source
- SQL for data from SQL databases
This is made easy using native data integrations in the form of dedicated tiles for popular providers:
- Microsoft Entra ID
- Azure App Insights
- Azure Log Analytics
- Elasticsearch
- ServiceNow
- SolarWinds
- Splunk
- SquaredUp Cloud
- VMware vSphere
Dashboards can be further enriched by embedding web page content, custom HTML and images:
If you're looking for some real-life examples of dashboards, check out the Dashboard Gallery. You'll find dashboards that users from SquaredUp and the Community have created to help you get the most out of SquaredUp DS:
What are Integrations and Providers?
SquaredUp DS Integrations allow you to create your own providers. Each Integration has its own form to help you input the information required for different providers. You may user one integration to create more than one provider, for example using the SQL Integration to creating providers to connect to different databases.
Providers contain the connection details to external platforms. A provider only needs to be set up once and can then be used when creating tiles on a dashboard.
There are two types of integrations and therefore providers:
- generic Web API providers that can connect to any REST API
- dedicated providers that connect to a specific external platform or database (SQL, ServiceNow, Azure Active App Insights, Elasticsearch, etc.)
Data Sources
Web API tile
The Web API tile allows you to pull data from external APIs and display this data using a variety of visualizations.
What kinds of APIs are supported?
The Web API tile works with any REST API that returns JSON.
How do I connect to the API I want to use?
The connection details are not stored in the tile, but in the provider. You need to create a provider before you can use the Web API tile. Adding an API provider is a one-time configuration task to be carried out by a SquaredUp DS administrator.
See How to add a Web API provider.
How do I get data from the API into the tile?
The Web API tile supports GET and POST requests. For the format of those requests, you need to refer to the API documentation of the service you want to integrate with.
Once a provider has been configured for a particular API provider it can be used in multiple tiles.
PowerShell tile
Using the PowerShell tile you can transform and visualize data from external tools and data stores and even combine data from several sources.
How to use the PowerShell tile
SQL tile
The SQL tile can show many visualizations using SQL queries.
Native Data Integrations
Azure Log Analytics
Query Log Analytics data from Azure Monitor and display the information on your dashboard using a range of visualizations.
How to use the Azure Log Analytics tile
Azure Application Insights
Query App Insights and display grid and scalar data in SquaredUp DS.
How to use the Azure Application Insights tile
Elasticsearch
The SquaredUp DS Elasticsearch integration allows you to easily show data from your Elasticsearch instance.
How to use the Elasticsearch tile
ServiceNow
The ServiceNow tile is available in SquaredUp DS v4.4 and above, and offers easier configuration than the Web API tile. You can display incidents and change request with the ServiceNow tile. If you want to use any other data from ServiceNow, you need to use the Web API tile.
The Web API tile can display other data in addition to incidents and change requests, it gives you more flexibility and advanced configurations.
How to use the ServiceNow tile or How to use the Web API tile with ServiceNow
SolarWinds
SolarWinds tiles offer you an easy way to display data from your SolarWinds instance in a SquaredUp DS dashboard.
How to use the SolarWinds tile
Splunk
Visualize your Splunk queries using the easy to use dedicated Splunk tile.
SquaredUp Cloud
SquaredUp Cloud tiles offer you an easy way to display tiles from your SquaredUp Cloud instance in a SquaredUp DS dashboard. Any tile, except those that use dashboard variables, can be shown.
How to use the SquaredUp Cloud tile
VMware vSphere
VMware tiles show you key metrics and states from your vSphere environment.
Embedding Content
Web Content tile
The Web Content tile enables you to enrich your dashboards with data from other web pages and custom HTML.
With a Web Content tile you can:
- Add HTML, for example to add formatted text or links to other websites.
- Embed web pages via iframe, for example to show web content from another site alongside the data in other tiles on the dashboard.
How to use the Web Content tile
Image tile
The Image tile allows you to add any image to your dashboard.