OpenTelemetry integration

On the IBM® DataPower® Gateway, you can configure integration points for OpenTelemetry.

Note: The following DataPower services support OpenTelemetry integration with the Instana® Observability agent.
  • API gateway through API Connect integration
  • Multi-protocol gateway
  • Web service proxy

OpenTelemetry (also referred to as OTel) is an open standard that CNCF created. OpenTelemetry is an open source observability framework for distributed tracing and monitoring of distributed systems. OpenTelemetry provides a single set of APIs, libraries, and tools to collect, analyze, and visualize telemetry data. OpenTelemetry provides a standardized way to collect performance and observability data, which provides visibility into the performance and health of your systems. With OpenTelemetry, you can collect data about response times, error rates, and resource usage. You can use this data to identify bottlenecks, optimize performance, and troubleshoot issues.

The DataPower configuration of an integration point for OpenTelementry is the creation of an instance of the OpenTelemetry object. For each instance of an OpenTelemetry object, define an OpenTelemetry exporter, an OpenTelemetry sampler, and the vector of resource attributes to use for integration. In OpenTelemetry, the exporter and sampler work together to collect and transmit trace data that is relevant to your needs in an efficient and scalable way.
  • An OpenTelemetry exporter is the data collector. The exporter collects trace data and exports it to a trace storage system or visualization tool. For the exporter, you define how to send the collected spans to a remote server.
  • An OpenTelemetry sampler is the data filter. The sampler decides which trace data to collect and send to the exporter.

On the DataPower Gateway, the OpenTelemetry integration is based on the OpenTelemetry CNCF incubating project. For more information, see OpenTelemetry website.