Visualizations

A panel does two things. It runs a query to fetch data, and it displays the results.

• Query: The request Grafana sends for the data a panel shows
• Visualization: The way the panel displays what comes back

A chart is one visualization. Grafana has many more. A map plots data by location, a gauge shows how far a number is from its limit, and a heatmap shows where values cluster.

Why it matters

The shape of your data and the question you’re asking determine which visualization to use. As a chart, disk usage shows how fast the disk is filling. As a gauge, it shows how close to full the disk is right now. The data is the same, but each visualization answers a different question. When your own data arrives in Grafana Cloud, you pick the visualization that answers the question you’re asking.

See for yourself

A gallery dashboard on Grafana Play provides working examples of many visualizations, from maps to gauges to heatmaps. Walk through it, no account needed.