Observability – Understanding Distributed Systems Through Metrics, Logs, and Traces

Observability

End-to-End Observability for Kubernetes and Microservices: We instrument your applications with OpenTelemetry, collect metrics, logs, and traces, and consolidate all data in Grafana. Here’s how to track a slow request across all services—instead of guessing in the dark.

Metrics, logs & traces combined

All three types of signals converge in one place—no more separate tool silos that lack a big-picture view.

Causes Instead of Symptoms

Track a slow request across all services and pinpoint the bottleneck—using distributed tracing.

Vendor-neutral

OpenTelemetry as an open standard for instrumentation—no lock-in to a proprietary APM provider.

Built for Cloud-Native

Kubernetes and microservices are built-in—where traditional up/down monitoring reaches its limits.

Open-Source Tools

Prometheus and Grafana instead of expensive SaaS APM licenses—full control over data and costs.

All in one place

Consulting, implementation, and operation—available as a managed service through NWS upon request, including platform operation.

The Problem

In distributed systems, traditional monitoring is no longer sufficient. If a request passes through dozens of services, saying “the server is running” doesn’t tell us much about the actual problem.

No one can make heads or tails of it anymore

In Kubernetes and microservices environments, no one knows exactly why a request is slow or where it’s getting stuck.

Tool silos without the big picture

Metrics in one tool, logs in another, traces nowhere to be found—the signals can’t be brought together, so the context is missing.

Monitoring alone is not enough

Up/Down doesn’t explain the why. In dynamic environments, you need insight into behavior, not just availability.

How we work with you

Four steps, the same for every NETWAYS solution—from instrumenting your applications to end-to-end observability in production.

Step 1

Analysis & Concept

We'll take a look at your architecture and critical paths and determine which metrics, logs, and traces are truly needed.

→ Focus on what actually drives the user experience and operations.

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Step 2

Instrumentation & Integration

We instrument our applications using OpenTelemetry, collect metrics via Prometheus, and aggregate all signals in Grafana.

→ An open standard instead of proprietary agents and siloed solutions.

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Step 3

Commissioning & correlation

Go-live: The signals are correlated, and dashboards and traces show the path a request takes through all services.

→ Identifying causes that span service boundaries is better than guessing in the dark.

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Step 4

Support & Operations

Upon request, we can fully manage the observability platform—including as a managed service through NWS—or we can train your team.

→ A stable platform, without having to build your own team of specialists.

The Pillars of Observability

Metrics, logs, and traces only provide a complete picture when combined—we bring them together and make them actionable.

Application Performance

Metrics

Metrics over time: latency, error rate, throughput, and resource utilization—collected via Prometheus.

Effect: Trends and anomalies become visible early on.

Log Management

Logs

Structured events from applications and infrastructure—the detailed context surrounding an incident.

Effect: Understanding the nature and timing of a problem.

Distributed Tracing

Traces

The path of a single request across all involved services—distributed tracing using OpenTelemetry.

Result: Pinpoint the bottleneck in the service network.

Grafana & SLOs

Correlation & Dashboards

All three signal types consolidated in Grafana—with the ability to jump from a metric to the corresponding log and trace.

Effect: From the symptom to the cause at a glance.

What You’ll Achieve

Identify causes faster, improve the user experience, and avoid vendor lock-in.

Identify Causes Faster

From the complaint to the root cause in minutes instead of hours—with full traceability across all services.

Better User Experience

Identify and resolve latency and errors before users notice them and leave the site.

No vendor lock-in

An open stack based on OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, and Grafana—instead of expensive, proprietary APM suites.

What is your solution built with?

Tried-and-true open-source components—run in-house or via NWS. You decide what you’ll do yourself and what NETWAYS will handle.

Prometheus

The de facto standard for metrics-based monitoring in cloud-native environments—collects and stores time series data from all your services.

Grafana

Brings all signals together: dashboards, correlation, and the ability to jump from a metric to the corresponding log and trace—all in a single interface.

InfluxDB

Time-series database for high-frequency performance and sensor data—ideal when large volumes of metrics need to be reliably stored.

OpenTelemetry

Vendor-neutral standard for instrumentation: Generate and collect metrics, logs, and traces in a consistent manner—without being tied to a specific vendor.

We’ll integrate what you’re already using with

We rely on open standards and the cloud-native ecosystem—here’s a selection of the building blocks we use to build observability stacks.

Instrumentation

OpenTelemetry
OTLP
Auto-Instrumentation
Prometheus Exporter

Logs & Traces

Jaeger
Tempo
OpenSearch
Elastic

Platform & Cloud-Native

Kubernetes
OpenShift
Docker
Service Mesh

Metrics & Time Series

Prometheus
InfluxDB
Thanos
VictoriaMetrics

Visualization & Alerting

Grafana
Alert manager
Dashboards
SLO Reports

Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions About This Solution

What is observability?

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Observability describes how well a system's internal state can be inferred from its external signals. In practical terms, this means using metrics, logs, and traces to understand why a system behaves the way it does—not just whether it’s running. This is especially crucial in distributed systems when it comes to identifying the root causes.

What is the difference between observability and monitoring?

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Monitoring answers common questions ("Is the server running? Is the disk full?") using predefined checks. Observability goes further: It allows you to ask new, even unknown questions and investigate unexpected behavior using metrics, logs, and traces. Monitoring tells you that something is broken—observability helps you understand why.

What is distributed tracing?

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Distributed tracing tracks a single request as it travels through all the services involved—from the initial request to the response. Each step is logged with timestamps, making it clear which service is causing a delay in a request. In microservice architectures, this is often the only way to pinpoint a bottleneck.

What is OpenTelemetry?

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OpenTelemetry is an open, vendor-neutral standard for uniformly generating and collecting metrics, logs, and traces. Applications are instrumented once, and the signals can then be sent to any backend—without being tied to a single provider. It is the foundation of modern observability.

How do I monitor microservices?

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By instrumenting the services with OpenTelemetry, collecting metrics via Prometheus, tracking traces across all calls, and bringing everything together in Grafana. This way, you can see not only individual containers, but also the path each request takes through the entire system—including the dependencies between them.

What is the difference between this and APM?

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APM (Application Performance Monitoring) is usually the proprietary, vendor-locked version of what observability achieves using open standards. With OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, and Grafana, you can gain comparable insights while retaining control over your data and costs—without being locked into a specific license.

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