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Open Telemetry

Overview

OpenTelemetry is an open-source observability framework designed to provide standardized, vendor-neutral instrumentation for collecting telemetry data—traces, metrics, and logs—from applications. It enables developers and operators to gain deep insights into distributed systems, making it easier to monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize applications.

What is OpenTelemetry?

OpenTelemetry unifies the collection of telemetry data, replacing disparate libraries and agents for tracing, metrics, and logging. Unlike traditional monitoring or logging solutions that often require vendor-specific SDKs or agents, OpenTelemetry offers a single, consistent API and SDK for instrumenting code, regardless of the backend (e.g., Jaeger, Zipkin, Prometheus, Azure Monitor).

How It Differs from Other Approaches

  • Unified Instrumentation: Instead of separate libraries for tracing, metrics, and logging, OpenTelemetry provides a single set of APIs and SDKs.
  • Vendor Neutrality: Instrument once, export anywhere. You can switch observability backends without changing your code.
  • Community Driven: Backed by CNCF, it is widely adopted and supported by major cloud providers and vendors.

Benefits

  • Improved Observability: Gain end-to-end visibility into distributed systems.
  • Easier Troubleshooting: Correlate traces, metrics, and logs for faster root cause analysis.
  • Flexibility: Integrate with a wide range of backends and tools.
  • Standardization: Reduces vendor lock-in and simplifies instrumentation.

Challenges & Considerations

  • Learning Curve: Understanding concepts like spans, traces, and context propagation can be complex.
  • Performance Overhead: Instrumentation can add latency if not configured carefully.
  • Evolving Ecosystem: APIs and best practices are still maturing.
  • Integration Complexity: Legacy systems may require significant effort to instrument.
  • Backends: Jaeger, Zipkin, Prometheus, Grafana, Azure Monitor, AWS X-Ray, Google Cloud Trace.
  • Related: OpenTracing, OpenCensus (both merged into OpenTelemetry), Application Insights.

C# Example: Basic Tracing

using OpenTelemetry;
using OpenTelemetry.Trace;

var tracerProvider = Sdk.CreateTracerProviderBuilder()
    .AddSource("MyCompany.MyProduct.MyLibrary")
    .SetSampler(new AlwaysOnSampler())
    .AddConsoleExporter()
    .Build();

using var activitySource = new ActivitySource("MyCompany.MyProduct.MyLibrary");

using (var activity = activitySource.StartActivity("SayHello"))
{
    // Your code here
    Console.WriteLine("Hello, OpenTelemetry!");
}

A further (simple) example can be found in my GitHub sample project Edu_OtelLogging which makes use of Serilog and SEQ.

Useful Libraries for .NET

Further Reading & Resources

OpenTelemetry is a powerful tool for modern observability, but it requires thoughtful integration and ongoing attention as the ecosystem evolves.