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Question 28 of 133

What is OpenTelemetry and what are the three pillars of observability it addresses?

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OpenTelemetry (OTel) is an open-source observability framework that provides a unified approach to collecting, processing, and exporting telemetry data. It addresses the three pillars of observability:

  • Traces: Track requests as they flow through distributed systems, showing the path and timing of operations
  • Metrics: Numerical measurements collected over time intervals (counters, gauges, histograms)
  • Logs: Discrete event records with timestamps and contextual information

OpenTelemetry provides APIs, SDKs, and tools to instrument applications and infrastructure, making it easier to understand system behavior and performance.

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