[rrd-users] RRD Graphs with bad averaging of missing data?

[Matt Elias]

Hi, I have an Ubuntu server (v12.10) running Perl (v5.14.2) scripts with 
the librrds-perl (v1.4.7-2) package. The Perl scripts connect to an 
Arduino and get temperature data from DS18B20 sensors. The shortest time 
frame I'm graphing is 1hr, so for a decent resolution, I'm updating the 
rrd database every 5 secs. Whenever a reading times out or the Arduino 
hangs, after the updates resume I see the anomalies shown on my image at 
9:56-ish (see google driv link). I run other temperature rrd databases 
that have a step of 2mins and a heartbeat of 4mins that just show a gap 
when there's unknown data. For this rrd with a step of 5s, I've tried a 
heartbeat of 5s, 8s, 10s, 15s, 120s & 240s and they all have this issue. 
My Perl script also saves the Arduino data in a plain text file and when 
I compare it to the graph, the plain text file shows no erratic numbers 
that would cause the low spike, the data/time stamp just shows missing 
data. So I think it's either the graphing or the rrd database itself 
that is averaging an unknown value with a legit value and 
storing/displaying an incorrect value. Has anyone seem this behavior before?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-KBMnHT5sWjdEltYlM0eG5rZ2c/edit?usp=sharing

Matt