In our latest Learning Lab, @zephstemle showcased how to turn live SAS Event Stream Processing (ESP) pipelines into dynamic, actionable dashboards using the ESP Grafana Plugin—right inside Grafana. This integration empowers operators and stakeholders with real-time visibility, eliminating the need to switch tools or refresh pages.
The Big Idea
Modern operations rely on continuous data streams—IoT sensors, business events, telemetry. The ESP Grafana Plugin bridges ESP with Grafana, allowing panels to subscribe to continuous queries and update instantly as new events arrive. It’s a powerful upgrade from the retired ESP Stream Viewer, bringing operational awareness into a familiar UI.
Why It Matters
Live pipeline visibility helps teams:
- Minimize downtime
- Optimize performance
- Respond faster—without tool-hopping
Demo Scenario: Smart Fleet Monitoring
Zeph walked through a “smart boating” use case with four vessels streaming location, speed, and heading. These were joined with a geofence window to detect marina entries and exclusion-zone violations. The dashboard included:
- Time series for historical traces
- Gauges for current speed
- Geomap with markers and polygons (GeoJSON)
- Event panels for recent speeding and zone breaches
- All components updated in real time—no reloads, no batch jobs.
How It Works
Connection flow: ESP data source → server → project → continuous query → window → fields
Grafana ran co-located with ESP in Kubernetes, simplifying scaling and orchestration for production.
Key Grafana Features Used
- Transformations: shape the feed
- Field organization: reorder, hide, relabel
- Filtering: isolate key events (e.g., by opcode)
- Calculations: derive KPIs
- Grouping: show latest row per asset (e.g., one-row-per-boat view)
- Panel overrides: thresholds, units, display logic
- Query Inspector: validate frames, export CSV samples
- Variables: enable dynamic filtering (e.g., $asset, $country)
Quickstart Guide
- Connect to ESP: Choose ESP data source → server → project → query → window → fields
- Validate the feed: Use Query Inspector to compare raw vs. transformed data
- Shape the stream: Apply transformations and field overrides
- Build the dashboard: Combine Geomap, time series, and event panels for full situational awareness
Final Thoughts
The ESP Grafana Plugin isn’t just about visualization—it’s about operating with confidence in real time. By pairing live ESP streams with Grafana’s flexible tooling, teams gain the situational awareness they need, in an interface they already trust.
