Tracing NodeJs Applications with OpenTelemetry

Tracing NodeJs Applications with OpenTelemetry

This tutorial focuses on setting up an observability stack using OpenTelemetry, NodeJs, and TypeScript. Unlike traditional monitoring, which highlights issues, observability correlates data to identify the root causes of problems. To implement this, prerequisites include installing NodeJs, Docker, kubectl, and Helm.
We will add Grafana and Tempo as data visualization and trace collection tools. Helm is used to simplify the Kubernetes setup, allowing for easy installation of these services. The tutorial details the configuration of these tools and the integration of OpenTelemetry into a NodeJs application to collect traces.
After setting up, users can test the telemetry in Grafana and explore the collected data. The importance of auto-instrumentation and the ability to create custom spans for more detailed insights are also discussed.