OpenTelemetry¶

OpenTelemetry is an open-source, vendor-agnostic observability framework for cloud-native applications. It provides a unified set of APIs, libraries, and agents for collecting telemetry data (metrics, logs, and traces) from applications and infrastructure. OpenTelemetry aims to simplify the collection, processing, and analysis of telemetry data and provide a consistent way to instrument applications and services across different languages and platforms.

OpenTelemetry was created by combining two existing observability projects, OpenCensus and OpenTracing, in an effort to create a single, standardized framework for observability. The project is currently maintained by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) and has a large and active community of contributors.

OpenTelemetry provides a range of features for collecting telemetry data, including automatic and manual instrumentation, context propagation, and distributed tracing. It also includes a set of standard data models and protocols for transmitting telemetry data to backend systems such as logging and monitoring platforms.

One of the key benefits of OpenTelemetry is its flexibility and extensibility. It supports a wide range of programming languages and platforms, including Java, Python, Go, .NET, and Node.js, and can be used with a variety of backend systems. It also provides a range of integrations with popular logging and monitoring platforms, such as Prometheus and Grafana.

Another advantage of OpenTelemetry is its focus on standardization and interoperability. By providing a consistent set of APIs and data models, OpenTelemetry aims to make it easier for developers and operators to instrument and monitor applications across different languages and platforms. This can help to reduce the complexity and cost of observability and make it easier to achieve a unified view of application performance.

Summary¶

OpenTelemetry is a powerful and flexible observability framework that provides a range of features for collecting and analyzing telemetry data. By providing a unified set of APIs and data models, OpenTelemetry can help to simplify the process of instrumenting and monitoring cloud-native applications and improve the visibility and understanding of application performance.