Understanding the components of OpenTelemetry Collector

The collector allows users to configure pipelines for each signal separately by combining any number of receivers, processors, and exporters as shown in the following diagram. This gives the collector a lot of flexibility in how and where it can be used:

Figure 8.2 – Dataflow through the collector

The initial implementation of the collector was a fork of the OpenCensus Service (https://opencensus.io/service/), which served a similar purpose in the OpenCensus ecosystem. The collector supports many open protocols out of the box for inputs and outputs, which we'll explore in more detail as we take a closer look at each component. Each component in the collector implements the Component interface, which is fairly minimal, as shown in the following code:

type Component interface {
    Start(ctx context.Context, host Host) error
    Shutdown(ctx context...