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Mastering OpenTelemetry and Observability: Enhancing Application and Infrastructure Performance and Avoiding Outages
Discover the power of open source observability for your enterprise environment
In Mastering Observability and Enhancing Application and Infrastructure Performance and Avoiding Outages, accomplished engineering leader and open source contributor Steve Flanders unlocks the secrets of enterprise application observability with a comprehensive guide to OpenTelemetry (OTel). Explore how OTel transforms observability, providing a robust toolkit for capturing and analyzing telemetry data across your environment.
You will learn how OTel delivers unmatched flexibility, extensibility, and vendor neutrality, freeing you from vendor lock-in and enabling data sovereignty and portability. You will also
Comprehensive coverage of observability issues and Dive deep into the world of observability and gain a comprehensive understanding of observability fundamentals with practical insights and real-world use cases. Practical From instrumentation techniques to advanced tracing strategies, gain the skills needed to create highly observable systems. Learn how to deploy and configure OTel, even in challenging brownfield environments, with step-by-step instructions and hands-on exercises. An opportunity for community contributions and Join the OTel community, including end-users, vendors, and cloud providers, and shape the future of observability while connecting with experts and peers. Whether you are a novice or a seasoned professional, Mastering Observability and OpenTelemetry is your roadmap to troubleshooting availability and performance problems by learning to detect anomalies, interpret data, and proactively optimize performance in your enterprise environment. Embark on your journey to observability mastery today!
In Mastering Observability and Enhancing Application and Infrastructure Performance and Avoiding Outages, accomplished engineering leader and open source contributor Steve Flanders unlocks the secrets of enterprise application observability with a comprehensive guide to OpenTelemetry (OTel). Explore how OTel transforms observability, providing a robust toolkit for capturing and analyzing telemetry data across your environment.
You will learn how OTel delivers unmatched flexibility, extensibility, and vendor neutrality, freeing you from vendor lock-in and enabling data sovereignty and portability. You will also
Comprehensive coverage of observability issues and Dive deep into the world of observability and gain a comprehensive understanding of observability fundamentals with practical insights and real-world use cases. Practical From instrumentation techniques to advanced tracing strategies, gain the skills needed to create highly observable systems. Learn how to deploy and configure OTel, even in challenging brownfield environments, with step-by-step instructions and hands-on exercises. An opportunity for community contributions and Join the OTel community, including end-users, vendors, and cloud providers, and shape the future of observability while connecting with experts and peers. Whether you are a novice or a seasoned professional, Mastering Observability and OpenTelemetry is your roadmap to troubleshooting availability and performance problems by learning to detect anomalies, interpret data, and proactively optimize performance in your enterprise environment. Embark on your journey to observability mastery today!
356 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 22, 2024
5 people are currently reading
3 people want to read
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 30, 2024
Should You Read This Book?
Yes, especially if you fall into one of the following categories:
Engineers working on Observability: Whether you're starting with OpenTelemetry (OTel) or diving deeper, this book provides practical insights and actionable strategies.
DevOps Engineers: Gain an in-depth understanding of OTel's architecture and implementation, including its integration with tools like Python.
Leaders: Learn the use cases behind OTel, evaluate managed vs. self-hosted observability platforms, and understand cost considerations without being pushed toward specific vendors.
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Chapter Breakdown
Chapters 1-3: Introduction to OTel
Perfect for everyone. These chapters lay a strong foundation by introducing OpenTelemetry's core concepts, use cases, and its value in modern observability practices.
Chapters 4-6: Deep Dive for Engineers
Targeted at engineers and DevOps professionals who want to:
Understand OTel's inner workings.
Explore its implementation, especially with Python.
Grasp the nuances of setting up OTel Collectors, instrumentation, and telemetry pipelines.
Chapter 7: Migration Strategies
Essential for teams planning to migrate to OTel.
Covers Greenfield (starting fresh) and Brownfield (integrating with existing systems) approaches.
Provides practical advice on rolling out OTel incrementally, minimizing disruption.
Chapter 8: Context and Correlation
A must-read for everyone. Explains the importance of context (metadata enrichment) and correlation (linking metrics, logs, and traces) in improving system insights and root cause analysis.
Chapter 9: Choosing an Observability Platform
Valuable for everyone, particularly leaders.
Helps evaluate managed vs. self-hosted observability platforms.
Offers unbiased insights without steering toward the author's employer, which is refreshing.
Discusses cost-effectiveness and interoperability with OpenTelemetry.
Chapter 10: Pitfalls and Antipatterns
Relevant to everyone. Includes a detailed table prioritizing common pitfalls and antipatterns along with solutions. Provides actionable guidance on avoiding over-monitoring, alert fatigue, and tool fragmentation.
Chapter 11: Scaling Observability
Primarily for engineers and DevOps professionals.
Focuses on scaling observability systems to handle elasticity, large data volumes, and cost management.
Covers strategies for data optimization, efficient telemetry pipelines, and maintaining system performance.
Chapter 12: The Future of OTel
Insightful for everyone.
Discusses the challenges and opportunities in the evolving observability landscape.
Highlights emerging trends such as edge computing, AI-driven insights, and OpenTelemetry's future innovations like eBPF and Real User Monitoring (RUM).
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Overall Review
This book is a comprehensive guide to OpenTelemetry and observability. It strikes a great balance between introductory content for beginners and advanced topics for experts. The author provides practical examples and avoids vendor bias, making it a trustworthy resource.
Who Should Read This Book?
Engineers looking to build or improve their understanding of OTel.
DevOps professionals managing observability systems at scale.
Leaders evaluating observability strategies for their organizations.
If you’re working in a modern distributed system or planning to implement observability practices, this book is highly recommended!
July 13, 2025
This book is an excellent resource for anyone getting into observability or preparing for the OpenTelemetry Certified Associate (OTCA) exam. It builds a solid foundation that closely aligns with the academic courses and then goes further. The material covers fundamentals, best practices, and common anti-patterns that help readers succeed in real-world environments. As a founding member of OpenTelemetry, the author brings deep expertise and insight that make this a standout guide in the space.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews