eBPF for Observability: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Explore the potential and limitations of eBPF for observability in this 31-minute conference talk. Dive into the promise of zero-instrumentation observability with low performance overhead, and understand how eBPF serves the observability field. Learn about eBPF features that enable observability without code changes, and examine distinct use cases in open-source tools such as Tetragon for system event insights, Pixie for continuous profiling, and OpenTelemetry for distributed tracing auto-instrumentation. Gain insights into both eBPF code and user interfaces to grasp the technology's potential. Discover the boundaries of using eBPF for observability and its interaction with other frameworks, ultimately understanding what works and what doesn't when leveraging eBPF in this domain.

eBPF for Observability: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - Anna Kapuscinska, Isovalent