Lesson Overview
In the previous lesson, you learned about the purpose of Neo4j Aura Dashboards and the benefits of using them for data visualization.
In this lesson, you will learn how to access Aura Dashboards, including creating an Aura account, selecting the appropriate tier, and navigating the Dashboards UI.
Getting Access to Aura Dashboards
To explore the Dashboards UI, you need an Aura account, and an instance to connect to.
Create an account and an instance by following these instructions:
If you already have an Aura account and an instance, you can skip to Step 4.
Step 1: Visit the Neo4j Aura Website
Go to the Neo4j Aura Console in your web browser. This is the official portal for managing Neo4j Aura databases.
On this page, you will see options to sign up for a new account or log in if you already have one.
Use the Sign Up button to create a new account.
For more information, see Create Database documentation.
Step 2: Create Your Account
After clicking the Sign Up button, you will be directed to the registration form. After filling in your email address, you have to confirm your identity before proceeding to make sure it is a valid email address and not a bot or impersonation.
Step 2b: Create a password
Once your email is verified, you will be prompted to create a password:
Step 3: Create an Aura Instance
(Optional) Once you have an account, create a new Aura instance by selecting the desired tier (Free, Professional, Business Critical, or Virtual Dedicated Cloud) based on your requirements.
In this course, you will only need the Free tier to explore and learn about Aura Dashboards.
Dashboard allocation per tier
In Aura Dashboards, you have access to different types of layouts to visualize your graph data effectively. The main types of layouts available are: In Aura Dashboards, you have access to different types of layouts to visualise your graph data effectively. The main types of layouts available are:
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Free tier: 3 dashboard pages available. If you have already created a free tier instance, you can access upgrade at any time to access more dashboards.
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Professional, Enterprise and Visual Dedicated Cloud: 25 dashboard pages available.
Step 4: Connect to an instance
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Log in to your Aura instance, and go to the Dashboards menu. From there, you can create new dashboards, access existing ones, and manage your dashboard settings.
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Connect to your instance by selecting it from the list of available instances. You can either connect to an Aura instance, or to a local Neo4j database if you have one, by entering the connection details. For more information, see Connecting Applications documentation.
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Connect to your instance by selecting it from the list of available instances. You can either connect to an Aura instance, or to a local Neo4j database if you have one, by entering the connection details. For more information, see Connecting Applications documentation.
After you click on Connect to instance, you will be prompted to enter the connection details, for either Aura or a Self managed database. In this course, you will connect to your Aura instance for simplicity:
You can find the connection details of your Aura instance by clicking on the … menu next to your instance name, and selecting Inspect, or by using the downloaded connection details file.
Check your understanding
Making the Right Choice
Which one of the following tiers is the right choice for you if you are exploring and learning about dashboards?
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✓ Aura Free
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❏ Aura Professional
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❏ Aura Business Critical
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❏ Aura Virtual Dedicated Cloud
Hint
Think about the features and limitations of each tier.
Solution
Aura Free is the best choice for exploring and learning about graph databases because it provides a fully managed Neo4j instance with limited resources at no cost. This allows you to experiment and learn without incurring expenses. Aura Professional is suitable for small to medium-sized applications with moderate requirements. Aura Business Critical is for high availability needs, and Aura Virtual Dedicated Cloud is for strict compliance and security requirements.
Getting access to Aura Dashboards
Why is the Dashboards canvas page empty when you first access it?
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❏ Because you need to pay extra.
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✓ Because you need to import data first.
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❏ Because you need to create another account.
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❏ Because you need to install additional software.
Hint
Think about what is required to visualize data in dashboards.
Solution
To visualize data in Aura Dashboards, you first need to import data into your Neo4j Aura instance. Without any data, the dashboards canvas will be empty as there is nothing to display.
Summary
In this lesson, you learned how to access Aura Dashboards, including creating an Aura account, selecting the appropriate tier, and navigating the Dashboards UI.
In the next lesson, you will learn how to load data into your Aura instance and generate a demo dashboard using AI.