Distributed tracing in HLD - Cheat Sheet & Quick Revision

Recall & Review

beginner

What is distributed tracing?

Distributed tracing is a method to track and observe requests as they flow through different services in a distributed system. It helps identify where delays or errors occur.

beginner

What is a 'trace' in distributed tracing?

A trace represents the entire journey of a request across multiple services. It is made up of multiple spans that record individual operations.

beginner

What is a 'span' in distributed tracing?

A span is a single unit of work or operation within a trace. It records the start time, end time, and metadata about that operation.

intermediate

Why is distributed tracing important in microservices?

Because microservices split functionality across many small services, distributed tracing helps understand how requests move between them and where problems happen.

beginner

Name two popular distributed tracing tools.

Jaeger and Zipkin are two widely used open-source distributed tracing tools.

What does a 'span' represent in distributed tracing?

A A single operation within a trace

B The entire request journey

C A database query

D A network packet

A span is a single operation or unit of work within a trace.

Which of the following is NOT a benefit of distributed tracing?

A Improving system observability

B Tracking request flow in microservices

C Identifying bottlenecks across services

D Automatically fixing bugs

Distributed tracing helps observe and diagnose issues but does not automatically fix bugs.

What is a 'trace' composed of?

A Multiple users

B Multiple databases

C Multiple spans

D Multiple servers

A trace is made up of multiple spans representing operations.

Which tool is commonly used for distributed tracing?

A Redis

B Jaeger

C MySQL

D Docker

Jaeger is a popular open-source distributed tracing tool.

Distributed tracing is especially useful in which architecture style?

A Microservices

B Monolithic

C Single-page applications

D Desktop applications

Distributed tracing helps track requests across many microservices.

Explain how distributed tracing helps in debugging a microservices system.

Think about how requests move through many small services.

Describe the difference between a trace and a span in distributed tracing.

One is the big picture, the other is a small piece.