Continuous monitoring and analysis are paramount when developing applications using a microservices architecture. The microservices approach is a game-changer for software development, allowing publishers to release stable versions while still having goals for further improvement. Developers can continue to develop new features, adding them later by merging code to create a brand-new update.

Because applications go through many iterations and code merges, developers need a way to track performance. Data is crucial because it allows teams to address issues, fine-tune the app's capabilities and more.

There are many ways to gather and analyze data. But one of the best for developers and IT teams is OpenTelemetry.

Understanding OpenTelemetry

OpenTelemetry is an open-source framework that provides standardized protocols and tools for telemetry data. Telemetry data includes logs, traces and several metrics. Developers and IT administrators use telemetry data in many ways. It allows them to monitor the health of applications, keep an eye on security issues, track performance and more.

OpenTelemetry and Kubernetes are a match made in heaven. The OpenTelemetry observability framework provides the foundation for collecting and routing telemetry data.

How It Works

The great thing about OpenTelemetry is that it uses all open-source and vendor-neutral tools. Therefore, you can implement it with many different programming languages. OpenTelemetry utilizes tools, APIs and SDKs to specify the types of telemetry data the team needs.

It specifies what metrics and parameters need monitoring. Then, OpenTelemetry gathers all the relevant data, cleans it up to maximize readability, organizes the information so that it's easier to understand and finally exports it to the proper formats. That telemetry data can then go to a monitoring backend where teams can view, analyze and process data as necessary.

Another big perk of using OpenTelemetry and Kubernetes is that the components have loose coupling. That means teams can easily pick and choose which parts of OpenTelemetry they want to utilize. It's a versatile framework that streamlines how you monitor products. When used with a system for containerized applications like Kubernetes, it's a great way to keep an eye on applications and ensure top-notch performance throughout its life.

Author Resource:- 

Emily Clarke writes about the different platforms providing high-quality developer and test environments. You can find her thoughts at Kubernetes microservices blog.