Mastering Jaeger: Practical Distributed Tracing and Observability for Cloud-Native Systems

Mastering Jaeger: Practical Distributed Tracing and Observability for Cloud-Native Systems is a definitive guide to building visibility into modern distributed applications. Starting with the evolution of observability and the core principles of distributed tracing, it explains why tracing matters and how standards like OpenTracing and OpenTelemetry shape instrumentation. Clear comparisons with alternative tools and real-world use cases place Jaeger within the broader observability landscape and show how tracing solves the unique challenges of cloud-native architectures.

The book then provides an in-depth examination of Jaeger’s architecture and operational lifecycle, breaking down components, data flows, storage backends, and deployment models for both monolithic and cloud-native environments. Practical chapters on instrumentation, context propagation, advanced sampling, scaling, security, and customization offer step-by-step strategies for introducing tracing into existing codebases, optimizing performance and cost, and running Jaeger reliably in production. Operational guidance covers capacity planning, health monitoring, high availability, and best practices for secure, maintainable deployments.