Skip to content

The Three Pillars of Observability Diagram

Scaffold

This MicroSim has been scaffolded from its specification. The interactive implementation has not been built yet.

Run MicroSim in Fullscreen

Specification

The full specification below is extracted from Chapter 10: Observability And Automated Discovery.

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
Type: diagram

    Purpose: Illustrate how logs, metrics, and traces work together to provide complete observability of IT systems

    Components to show:
    - Central hexagon labeled "Complete Observability"
    - Three equal-sized circles surrounding the hexagon, one for each pillar
    - Circle 1 (top): "Logs" with icon of document/file lines
    - Circle 2 (bottom-left): "Metrics" with icon of line chart
    - Circle 3 (bottom-right): "Traces" with icon of connected nodes/flowchart

    Visual details for each pillar:
    - Logs circle (blue): Shows example log entry "2025-01-15 14:32:10 ERROR: Connection timeout to DB server"
    - Metrics circle (green): Shows small line graph trending upward with label "Request Rate"
    - Traces circle (orange): Shows simple service flow diagram "API → Auth → Database"

    Connections:
    - Bidirectional arrows connecting each pillar circle to the central hexagon
    - Arrow labels showing the value each pillar provides:
      * Logs → Center: "What happened?"
      * Metrics → Center: "How much/many?"
      * Traces → Center: "Where in the flow?"

    Additional visual elements:
    - Light gray dashed lines connecting the three pillar circles to each other, forming a triangle
    - Labels on these connecting lines: "Correlated insights"
    - Small icons around the central hexagon: magnifying glass, lightbulb, shield (representing investigation, insights, and reliability)

    Style: Modern, clean diagram with rounded shapes

    Color scheme:
    - Central hexagon: Gold with white text
    - Logs circle: Blue (#4A90E2)
    - Metrics circle: Green (#7ED321)
    - Traces circle: Orange (#F5A623)
    - Background: White or very light gray
    - Arrows: Dark gray (#4A4A4A)

    Labels and annotations:
    - Title at top: "The Three Pillars of Observability"
    - Subtitle below each circle briefly describing its purpose:
      * Logs: "Event-level detail"
      * Metrics: "Aggregated measurements"
      * Traces: "Request journey"

    Implementation: SVG diagram or tool like draw.io, Lucidchart