Data sources

Data Sources are how you connect SquaredUp to the tools and services your organization relies on, such as Azure, GitHub, AWS, SQL databases, or even simple CSV files. Once connected, SquaredUp can index, explore, and visualize the data from these sources through dashboards, data streams, and objects.

This article introduces how data sources work in SquaredUp, how to add your first instance, and highlights the next steps on your journey to achieving operational intelligence.

See Plugins and data sources for a deeper look, as well as help with troubleshooting.

What Is a Data Source?

A data source is any external system you connect to SquaredUp. SquaredUp has an extensive list of available data sources which can be viewed here.

A small selection of the data sources available. If you can't find the data source you want, you can even use the Web API plugin to connect to any HTTP API!
Each data source is powered by a plugin, which handles the connection, authentication, and data ingestion needed for your dashboards to stay up to date. Once a data source is added, you can use its data across dashboards, monitors, KPIs, and more.

Adding your first data source

You can add a data source in just a couple of steps. The configuration involved depend on the plugin, but the process is always similar.

  1. Navigate to the workspace you want to add the data source to.From your workspace, click Add data source
    in the left-hand menu.
  2. Click Add data source
    in the left-hand menu.
  3. Search for the service you want to connect, for example Sample Data.
  4. Select the plugin to open its configuration page.
  5. Configure the plugin as required. In this case, simply enter a Display Name to identify it (e.g. My first data source).
  6. Click Add. The indexing window displays and the plugin uses the provided configuration details to create a connection to the data source.
  7. Once completed successfully the following message displays. Click Continue to complete the process.
    Congratulations 🎉 you added your first data source!

Next Steps

Now that you've added a data source to your workspace, you're ready to take the next step towards operational intelligence and start uncovering insights within your data.

Once a data source is added, you'll notice that it automatically appears under the Data Sources section of the navigation pane, under which you’ll also see a curated set of pre-built dashboards and perspectives that were installed with the plugin.

Exploring data

Selecting the data source from the navigation pane takes you to the Data Source Overview page, where you can manage your data source configuration and view a detailed breakdown of the data streams and objects exposed by the plugin.

The data source overview page for the sample data plugin

From here, you can open data streams in the Data Explorer and drilldown into your objects to explore insights across perspectives, helping you build a richer, more complete understanding of your data.

Pre-built dashboards

From both the navigation pane and the overview page, you can dive into the pre-built dashboards and perspectives that were installed with the plugin.

Each plugin has a bespoke set of pre-built dashboards and perspectives, designed to help you quickly understand trends, spot anomalies, and make data-driven decisions right out of the box.

The pre-built Status perspective from the sample data plugin
o

Building your own dashboards

When you feel ready, you can jump in and start building your own dashboards and discovering new insights.

You can do this by cloning the pre-built dashboards and making tweaks, or creating an entirely new dashboard from scratch.

See Dashboards for more information.

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