Jaeger

Overview

Jaeger is an open-source distributed tracing platform used to collect, store, and visualize traces.

Main Components

• Client instrumentation
• Collector and agent
• Query service
• Web UI for trace analysis

flowchart LR
    A[Instrumented Services] --> B[Jaeger Collector]
    B --> C[Storage]
    C --> D[Jaeger Query UI]

Practical Example

A service emits spans using OpenTelemetry SDK and exports to Jaeger endpoint for analysis.

exporters:
  jaeger:
    endpoint: http://jaeger-collector:14250

Production Example

Engineering teams use Jaeger dependency graphs to identify cross-service latency bottlenecks after deployment changes.

Common Pitfalls

• No retention planning for trace storage
• Sampling settings that hide important transactions
• Instrumenting only edge services

Key Takeaways

• Jaeger enables end-to-end trace visualization.
• Complete instrumentation and storage planning are critical.
• Dependency insights help prioritize performance work.