Using the OpenTelemetry Collector to sample data
Configuring the application to sample traces is great, but what if we wanted to use tail sampling instead? The OpenTelemetry Collector provides a natural point where sampling can be performed. Today, it supports both tail sampling and probabilistic sampling via processors. As we've already discussed the probabilistic sampling processor in Chapter 8, The OpenTelemetry Collector, we'll focus this section on the tail sampling processor.
Tail sampling processor
In addition to supporting the configuration of sampling via specifying a probabilistic sampling percentage, the tail sampling processor can make sampling decisions based on a variety of characteristics of a trace. It can choose to sample based on one of the following:
- Overall trace duration
- Span attributes' values
- Status code of a span
To accomplish this, the tail sampling processor supports the configuration of policies to sample traces...
