Which data source on the analytics page shows traces?

In IBM Instana Observability, the Analytics page is a powerful tool for deep-diving into performance data. Traces, which represent the end-to-end journey of a request through a distributed system, are the fundamental data unit for Application Performance Monitoring (APM). This APM data is categorized and analyzed under the Applications data source. Within the Analytics view, users select an Application Perspective to filter, group, and investigate the associated traces and calls to diagnose latency, errors, and other performance bottlenecks.

A. Infrastructure: This data source pertains to the health and performance metrics of hosts, containers, and cloud platforms (e.g., CPU, memory), not application request traces.

C. Logs: This section is dedicated to querying and analyzing log messages. While logs can be correlated with traces, they are a distinct data type and source within Analytics.

D. Websites: This data source focuses on Real User Monitoring (RUM) data, such as browser page loads and JavaScript errors (beacons), not the back-end distributed traces.

1. IBM Instana Observability Documentation, "Unbounded Analytics": "With Unbounded Analytics, you can query all your traces and calls that are collected by Instana. [...] To access Unbounded Analytics, click Analytics on the sidebar. By default, the Analytics view for Calls & Traces is displayed." This section confirms that the primary function of Analytics is to query traces and calls, which are the core components of the Applications monitoring area.

2. IBM Instana Observability Documentation, "Application Perspectives": "Application Perspectives (APs) provide a customized view of an application, its services, and endpoints. APs are the primary way that users view and analyze their applications within Instana, providing a context for understanding the flow of requests (traces) through the system." This establishes that traces are analyzed within the context of an Application.

3. IBM Instana Observability Documentation, "Analyzing Traces": This section details the Trace View, which is accessed through Application Perspectives. It states, "The trace view is the central hub for all trace analysis related investigations. It provides a comprehensive overview of a single trace, from a high-level summary to every single call that is part of this trace." This directly links trace analysis to the application monitoring function.