Why does Cloudwatch sparkline lag so much?

Question

I have noticed that the "sparkline" provided for Cloudwatch "Number" widget types has significant lag -- about 30 minutes.

Does anyone know why this is the case? Changing the widget type to "Line" shows much more recent data (about 5 minute lag), and even less with "Live data" enabled (1 - 2 minutes). I'm curious why the sparkline isn't just derived from the "Line" data. That would be much more useful to me.

Accepted Answer

I found the cause: the data in fact is in the chart, but it's hidden behind a scrollbar on the right side of the widget, which covers about 30 minutes of data. Here's an example:

![Enter image description here](/media/postImages/original/IMKBja_JmLTpCTshXVGNflgg)

The scrollbar on the right side covers the spike at the end.

There's no way for me to fix this -- no matter how I resize the widget, the scrollbar is always displayed. I have asked support if this can be fixed.

Answer

Hello,

The number widget includes the sparkline feature. Sparkline is an option that allows you to glance the trend of a metric by displaying a simplified line graph below the number [1]. With the line widget, you can compare metrics over periods of time [2].

In general, there is no such lag observed from one widget type to another. However, it might depend on how often data is pushed to the metric, the time range and the period selected. To check this behaviour, it would be necessary to review the corresponding resources (dashboard, metric) from AWS end.

Keeping in mind your data privacy, you can open a technical support case with AWS using the link [3] and share your dashboard/metric details. Upon checking the corresponding resources, AWS Premium Support engineers will be able to provide insights and assist you accordingly.

[1] Number widget - https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/monitoring/add_remove_number_dashboard.html

[2] Line widget - https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/monitoring/add_remove_line_dashboard.html

[3] AWS Support Center - https://console.aws.amazon.com/support

Why does Cloudwatch sparkline lag so much?

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