Generating and storing aggregated metrics for different aggregation granularities for different periods of time for monitoring of network elements of a software-defined network

A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a program for execution by at least one processing unit for presenting operational data collected from a plurality of network elements in a software defined network (SDN), the program comprising sets of instructions for:

• at an operational data aggregator of the SDN:
• receiving a first request to view metric data for a first time period prior to a current time;
• presenting a first plurality of sets of aggregated metrics created for the first time period;
• receiving a second request to view metric data for a second time period prior to the current time;
• presenting a second plurality of sets of aggregated metrics created for the second time period,
• wherein the first plurality of sets of aggregated metrics has at least one aggregated metric set that is at a different aggregation granularity than all other sets of aggregated metrics in the second plurality of sets of aggregated metrics.