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docs: add dashboards documentation page with BBE Probes explanation #191

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docs: add dashboards documentation page with BBE Probes explanation
hloeffler Jan 13, 2026
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docs: address review feedback on dashboards page
hloeffler Jan 13, 2026
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docs: remove Best Practices section from dashboards page
hloeffler Jan 14, 2026
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28 changes: 28 additions & 0 deletions src/multiplayer-servers/monitoring/dashboards.md
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@zoomoid Alex Bartolomey (zoomoid) Jan 13, 2026

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Please add a highlighted section that this dashboard is not causally consistent with network issues. It only provides indicators that specific routes from the server to the predefined targets might be disrupted. Network issues may occur despite no probes failing, and vice versa, game servers might not experience connectivity issues even though there are probes failing. Failing probes do not equal "network issues" per se.

Because of the vantage point of the probes, this is also only a local view: probes towards cloud provider endpoints are a) highly selective (1 public, global endpoint per cloud provider, no regional or "other" ways to the targets -- those might not be equally disrupted as towards the global endpoints; this depends on their implementation) and b) target cloud provider services, not the entire cloud platform, thus just giving a selective view of what services might encounter issues, e.g., just because probes towards AWS S3 might be failing, that doesn't mean that all traffic towards AWS experiences connection issues.

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@hloeffler Hauke Löffler (hloeffler) Jan 13, 2026

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thank you, will do

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# Dashboards

GameFabric provides predefined Grafana dashboards for monitoring your infrastructure.
You can find these under "Dashboards" in your Grafana instance.

## BBE Probes from Nodes

This dashboard shows BlackBox Exporter (BBE) probe results from each of your assigned nodes to predefined targets, including major cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP) and DNS servers (such as 1.1.1.1 and 8.8.8.8).
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Copilot AI Jan 14, 2026

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The list items in parentheses should follow the technical writing guideline to define acronyms/abbreviations on first use. While "AWS, Azure, GCP" are defined in the BBE expansion above, "1.1.1.1 and 8.8.8.8" are presented without context. Consider clarifying what these IP addresses represent (Cloudflare and Google DNS respectively) for readers who may not immediately recognize them.

Copilot generated this review using guidance from repository custom instructions.

### Purpose

Use this dashboard to quickly identify whether game server issues are caused by network connectivity problems to a particular cloud provider rather than bugs in your application code.
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@Ullaakut Brendan Le Glaunec (Ullaakut) Jan 13, 2026

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Suggested change
This dashboard shows BlackBox Exporter (BBE) probe results from each of your assigned nodes to predefined targets, including major cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP) and DNS servers (such as 1.1.1.1 and 8.8.8.8).
### Purpose
Use this dashboard to quickly identify whether game server issues are caused by network connectivity problems to a particular cloud provider rather than bugs in your application code.
This dashboard shows BlackBox Exporter (BBE) probe results from each of your assigned nodes to predefined targets, including major cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP) and DNS servers (such as 1.1.1.1 and 8.8.8.8).
This dashboard helps you determine whether game server incidents originate from cloud-provider connectivity issues rather than defects in the application.

IMO no need for a Purpose sub-section, just state the purpose directly


### Interpreting the Dashboard

- **Red sections** indicate the timespan during which a probe failed.
- **Short probe failures** are usually nothing to worry about.
- **Prolonged failures** to a single target (for example, a cloud provider your game doesn't use, or a backup DNS server) may have no impact on your game servers.
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@zoomoid Alex Bartolomey (zoomoid) Jan 13, 2026

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see above comment

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Copilot AI Jan 14, 2026

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The list items lack parallel structure in punctuation. The first two items use periods, but the third item does not. According to the technical writing guidelines, list items should be consistent in punctuation. Either add a period to line 18 or remove periods from lines 16 and 17.

Copilot generated this review using guidance from repository custom instructions.
- If probe failures to **multiple targets persist**, GameFabric automatically sets the status to degraded on [status.gamefabric.com](https://status.gamefabric.com).

:::warning Probe results are not causally consistent with network issues
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The warning title "Probe results are not causally consistent with network issues" uses unclear terminology. The phrase "causally consistent" is ambiguous and may confuse readers. Consider rephrasing to something clearer like "Probe results do not always reflect network issues" or "Probes provide limited visibility into network issues" to better match the technical writing guideline for clarity and directness.

Copilot generated this review using guidance from repository custom instructions.
Failing probes do not necessarily indicate network issues, and network issues may occur even when all probes succeed. Probes only test specific routes from nodes to predefined targets.

The dashboard provides a limited view:

- Only one public, global endpoint is probed per cloud provider. Regional routes may behave differently.
- Probes target specific cloud services (for example, AWS S3), not the entire cloud platform. Other services on the same provider may be unaffected.
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The second list item appears to use "for example" parenthetically but is describing a specific example with "AWS S3". According to the technical writing guidelines for clarity and consistency, consider rephrasing to "Probes target specific cloud services (such as AWS S3), not the entire cloud platform." to match the usage pattern established earlier in the document on line 18.

Copilot generated this review using guidance from repository custom instructions.
:::
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@Ullaakut Brendan Le Glaunec (Ullaakut) Jan 13, 2026

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IMO this is a weird use for a bullet list: the 1st point is about what red sections are, and the 3 following ones are about how to interpret various durations of the 1st point. Those are not siblings/parallel if that makes sense. I'd suggest rephrasing this whole section like such, wdyt?

Suggested change
### Interpreting the Dashboard
- **Red sections** indicate the timespan during which a probe failed.
- **Short probe failures** are usually nothing to worry about.
- **Prolonged failures** to a single target (for example, a cloud provider your game doesn't use, or a backup DNS server) may have no impact on your game servers.
- If probe failures to **multiple targets persist**, GameFabric automatically sets the status to degraded on [status.gamefabric.com](https://status.gamefabric.com).
:::warning Probe results are not causally consistent with network issues
Failing probes do not necessarily indicate network issues, and network issues may occur even when all probes succeed. Probes only test specific routes from nodes to predefined targets.
The dashboard provides a limited view:
- Only one public, global endpoint is probed per cloud provider. Regional routes may behave differently.
- Probes target specific cloud services (for example, AWS S3), not the entire cloud platform. Other services on the same provider may be unaffected.
:::
### Interpreting the Dashboard
Red segments represent periods where a probe failed.
In practice:
- Brief probe failures are common and usually not actionable.
- A sustained failure to a single target may still have no impact—for example, if the target is a provider your game does not use or a backup DNS endpoint.
- If failures persist across multiple targets, GameFabric automatically marks the service as **Degraded** on [status.gamefabric.com](https://status.gamefabric.com).
:::note About probe results
Probe results are not a definitive measure of network health: a failing probe does not necessarily indicate a network issue, and network issues can occur even when probes succeed. Probes test only specific routes from our nodes to a fixed set of predefined targets.
Limitations:
- Only one public, global endpoint is probed per cloud provider; regional routes may behave differently.
- Probes target specific cloud services (for example, AWS S3), not the entire cloud platform. Other services on the same provider may be unaffected.
:::

Also, the admonition here should be more of a note than a warning, there's nothing dangerous here, it's more of an information panel/PSA IMO, would you agree?

4 changes: 4 additions & 0 deletions src/multiplayer-servers/monitoring/sidebar.json
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"text": "Introduction",
"link": "/monitoring/introduction"
},
{
"text": "Dashboards",
"link": "/monitoring/dashboards"
},
{
"text": "Audit Logs",
"link": "/monitoring/auditlogs"
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