The Steps Within

The trace showed the path. But the path has steps.
Each step has a story.

trace: order #8842 trace_id: a1b2c3d4e5f6

Operation Timeline Duration

gateway

GET /checkout

210ms

api

process order

183ms

orders

create order

132ms

database

INSERT orders

180ms

0ms 50ms 100ms 150ms 210ms

Total trace duration: 210ms

This trace crossed four services. Look at the bars above. How many individual operations can you count?

Each of those bars represents one step — one unit of work within the trace.

The database bar took 180ms out of the total 210ms. What does this tell you?

By breaking a trace into its individual steps, you can see exactly where time is spent.

Each of these individual steps in a trace has a name in OpenTelemetry. What is it called?

A span is one step in a trace. Each span has a start, an end, and tells you what happened during that step.

The waterfall shows how spans nest inside each other, revealing where time is spent.