1. What is Jaeger?

Jaeger is an open-source, end-to-end distributed tracing system that helps monitor and troubleshoot complex microservices architectures.

2. Why is distributed tracing important?

Distributed tracing allows developers and operators to track and visualize requests as they flow through various services in a distributed system, aiding in understanding performance bottlenecks and detecting issues.

3. How does Jaeger work?

Jaeger instruments applications to collect traces, which represent the journey of a request across services. It provides a centralized storage and visualization platform for these traces.

4. What are the key components of Jaeger?

Jaeger consists of components like the Jaeger Agent, Collector, Storage, Query Service, and an instrumentation library for various programming languages.

5. Can Jaeger be used with any programming language?

Yes, Jaeger provides instrumentation libraries for various programming languages, making it compatible with applications written in those languages.

6. How does Jaeger handle trace sampling?

Jaeger supports trace sampling, allowing users to control the amount of data collected by sampling a fraction of the traces to reduce overhead.

7. What is the role of the Jaeger Agent?

The Jaeger Agent is a lightweight process that receives trace data from instrumented applications and forwards it to the Jaeger Collector.

8. How does Jaeger store trace data?

Jaeger supports multiple storage backends, including Elasticsearch, Cassandra, and Kafka, for storing trace data. Users can choose the backend that best fits their requirements.

9. What is the Jaeger Collector?

The Jaeger Collector receives trace data from Jaeger Agents, performs basic validation, and then forwards the traces to the storage backend.

10. How does Jaeger support high availability?

Jaeger can be configured for high availability by deploying multiple instances of the Jaeger Collector and ensuring redundancy in the storage backend.

11. Can Jaeger be used with Kubernetes?

Yes, Jaeger is well-suited for Kubernetes environments. It can be easily integrated with applications running on Kubernetes clusters.

12. What is the role of the Jaeger Query Service?

The Jaeger Query Service provides a user interface and API for querying and retrieving trace data stored in the backend.

13. How does Jaeger handle context propagation?

Jaeger instruments applications to propagate context information across service boundaries, ensuring that traces are linked together for a complete view of request flow.

14. Can Jaeger trace requests across multiple services?

Yes, Jaeger can trace requests as they traverse multiple services, providing insights into the entire journey of a request through a distributed system.

15. How does Jaeger handle trace visualization?

Jaeger offers a web-based user interface for visualizing traces. It displays the timeline of a request, showing the duration and interactions with different services.

16. What is the OpenTracing API, and how does it relate to Jaeger?

OpenTracing is an open standard for distributed tracing, and Jaeger is an implementation of this standard. Applications instrumented with the OpenTracing API can use Jaeger as the tracing backend.

17. Can I use Jaeger with existing instrumentation in my applications?

Yes, Jaeger can be integrated with existing instrumentation using the OpenTracing API, allowing applications to leverage Jaeger for distributed tracing.

18. How does Jaeger handle trace context in HTTP requests?

Jaeger uses HTTP headers to propagate trace context between services in a distributed system. It ensures that trace information is carried along with the requests.

19. Can Jaeger be used for monitoring and performance analysis?

Yes, Jaeger is a powerful tool for monitoring and performance analysis. It provides insights into service interactions, latency, and bottlenecks within a distributed system.

20. How does Jaeger handle trace context in messaging systems like Kafka?

Jaeger supports trace context propagation in messaging systems by injecting trace information into message headers, allowing for tracing across asynchronous communication.

21. What is the purpose of baggage in Jaeger traces?

Baggage in Jaeger allows users to attach key-value pairs to traces. This information is carried along with the trace context, providing additional metadata for analysis.

22. Can Jaeger be used with non-containerized workloads?

Yes, Jaeger can be used with both containerized and non-containerized workloads. It is not limited to specific deployment environments.

23. How does Jaeger handle trace context in gRPC communication?

Jaeger supports trace context propagation in gRPC communication by injecting trace information into gRPC headers, facilitating tracing in RPC-style interactions.

24. What is the recommended sampling strategy in Jaeger?

The recommended sampling strategy in Jaeger depends on the specific use case. It’s common to use a probabilistic sampling strategy to control the volume of collected traces.

25. How can I integrate Jaeger with my application?

Integration involves instrumenting your application using the Jaeger client library for your programming language. This library captures traces and sends them to the Jaeger Agent.

26. Can Jaeger be used for performance profiling?

While Jaeger is primarily designed for distributed tracing, it can indirectly support performance profiling by identifying bottlenecks and latency issues in a distributed system.

27. How does Jaeger handle trace context in RESTful APIs?

Jaeger injects trace context into HTTP headers for RESTful API communication, ensuring that trace information is carried with each HTTP request.

28. What is the OpenTelemetry project, and how does it relate to Jaeger?

OpenTelemetry is a set of APIs, libraries, agents, instrumentation, and instrumentation standards for observability. Jaeger is one of the projects that contributed to OpenTelemetry, which aims to provide a unified observability framework.

29. How does Jaeger handle trace context in asynchronous processing?

Jaeger maintains trace context in asynchronous processing by linking spans through shared trace and span IDs, ensuring a cohesive view of the entire transaction.

30. Can Jaeger be used for logging purposes?

Jaeger is not primarily designed for logging. It focuses on tracing and observability. Logging solutions like ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana) are more suitable for log analysis.

31. What is the role of the Jaeger storage backend in trace analysis?

The Jaeger storage backend stores trace data and serves as the source for querying and analyzing traces through the Jaeger Query Service.

32. How does Jaeger handle trace sampling for long-running transactions?

Jaeger allows for adaptive sampling, which means long-running transactions can be sampled at a lower rate to control the volume of trace data collected.

33. Can Jaeger trace requests across different data centers?

Yes, Jaeger can trace requests across different data centers by instrumenting applications in each data center and ensuring trace context propagation between them.

34. How does Jaeger handle trace context in database transactions?

Jaeger can propagate trace context to database transactions by instrumenting the database access layer, allowing for tracing of interactions between services and databases.

35. Can I use Jaeger for anomaly detection in my distributed system?

While Jaeger itself is not designed for anomaly detection, the trace data it provides can be used as part of a broader observability strategy that includes anomaly detection tools.

36. How does Jaeger handle security concerns in distributed tracing?

Jaeger can be configured with security features such as encryption and authentication to address security concerns in distributed tracing.

37. Can I export Jaeger trace data to other observability tools?

Jaeger supports various export options, and trace data can be exported to other observability tools or integrated into larger observability platforms.

38. What is the impact of Jaeger instrumentation on application performance?

Jaeger instrumentation introduces some overhead, but the impact on application performance is generally low. Sampling strategies can further control the overhead.

39. How does Jaeger handle trace context in message queues like RabbitMQ?

Jaeger supports trace context propagation in message queues by injecting trace information into message headers, allowing for tracing of asynchronous communication.

40. Can Jaeger be used in production environments?

Yes, Jaeger is suitable for production environments and is widely used by organizations to monitor and troubleshoot complex distributed systems.

41. How does Jaeger handle trace context in serverless architectures?

Jaeger can be adapted to work with serverless architectures by instrumenting functions to propagate trace context, enabling tracing in serverless environments.

42. What is the Jaeger Data Model?

The Jaeger Data Model defines the structure of trace data, including spans, trace IDs, and other metadata, ensuring consistency in trace representation.

43. Can Jaeger trace requests that span across different services and technologies?

Yes, Jaeger can trace requests across different services and technologies as long as those services are instrumented with Jaeger and support trace context propagation.

44. How does Jaeger handle trace context in WebSocket communication?

Jaeger supports trace context propagation in WebSocket communication by injecting trace information into WebSocket headers, facilitating tracing in real-time, bidirectional communication.

45. Can I use Jaeger with non-Java applications?

Yes, Jaeger provides instrumentation libraries for multiple programming languages, allowing it to be used with applications written in those languages.

46. What is the Jaeger Dependency Graph?

The Jaeger Dependency Graph is a visual representation of dependencies between services, helping users understand the relationships and interactions within a distributed system.

47. How does Jaeger handle trace context in GraphQL communication?

Jaeger supports trace context propagation in GraphQL communication by injecting trace information into HTTP headers, enabling tracing in GraphQL-based APIs.

48. Can I deploy Jaeger in a hybrid cloud environment?

Yes, Jaeger can be deployed in a hybrid cloud environment, tracing requests across on-premises and cloud-based services.

49. What is the role of the Jaeger Context Propagation Library?

The Jaeger Context Propagation Library provides utilities and APIs for manual trace context propagation in scenarios where automatic instrumentation is not possible.

50. How can I contribute to the Jaeger project?

Contributions to the Jaeger project can be made through GitHub by submitting pull requests, reporting issues, participating in discussions, or contributing to documentation. The project welcomes community involvement.