OpenTelemetry Spans are the fundamental units of distributed tracing that capture individual operations within a request's journey across microservices. Each Span records timing, context, attributes, events, and relationships to other Spans, forming a trace tree that visualizes how requests flow through distributed systems. The article explains Span anatomy (context, timestamps, attributes, events, links, status), how parent-child relationships create trace trees, context propagation across services, and practical considerations like granularity, naming conventions, and handling asynchronous work. It also covers how Spans complement metrics and logs for comprehensive observability.
Table of contents
What is a Span in OpenTelemetry?Anatomy of an OpenTelemetry SpanSpan Relationships and the Trace TreeHow Spans Facilitate Distributed TracingCommon Challenges and Practices Around OpenTelemetry SpansOpenTelemetry Spans vs. Other Observability SignalsHow Last9 Helps You Observe Better with OpenTelemetryFAQsSort: