Blog2

What is Sampling

Sampling is about balancing observability depth with system performance.

• Sampling decides which traces to keep or drop.
• Reduces telemetry data volume.
• Primarily applied to traces.
• Balances observability and performance.

Why Sampling is Needed?

• Observability systems generate large volumes of data.
• Storing every trace is costly and unnecessary.
• Sampling reduces data without losing visibility.
• Unlike filtering or aggregation, sampling keeps data representative.
• A small, well-chosen sample can reflect overall system behavior.
• In high-traffic systems, 1% or less of data is often enough.

       Example
At 10k requests/sec, full tracing is impractical”.