Batch Processor
The batch processor accepts spans, metrics, or logs and places them into
batches. Batching helps better compress the data and reduce the number of
outgoing connections required to transmit the data. This processor supports
both size and time based batching.
It is highly recommended to configure the batch processor on every collector.
The batch processor should be defined in the pipeline after the memory_limiter
as well as any sampling processors. This is because batching should happen after
any data drops such as sampling.
Please refer to config.go for the config spec.
The following configuration options can be modified:
send_batch_size
(default = 8192): Number of spans, metric data points, or log
records after which a batch will be sent regardless of the timeout. send_batch_size
acts as a trigger and does not affect the size of the batch. If you need to
enforce batch size limits sent to the next component in the pipeline
see send_batch_max_size
.
timeout
(default = 200ms): Time duration after which a batch will
be sent regardless of size. If set to zero, send_batch_size
is
ignored as data will be sent immediately, subject to only send_batch_max_size
.
send_batch_max_size
(default = 0): The upper limit of the batch size.
0
means no upper limit of the batch size.
This property ensures that larger batches are split into smaller units.
It must be greater than or equal to send_batch_size
.
metadata_keys
(default = empty): When set, this processor will
create one batcher instance per distinct combination of values in
the client.Metadata
.
metadata_cardinality_limit
(default = 1000): When metadata_keys
is
not empty, this setting limits the number of unique combinations of
metadata key values that will be processed over the lifetime of the
process.
early_return
(default = false): When enabled, this pipeline component
will return immediate success to the caller after enqueuing the item
for eventual delivery.
max_concurrency
(default = unlimited): Controls the maximum number
of concurrent export calls made by this component. This is enforced
per batcher instance, as determined by metadata_keys
. When the value
0 is configured, unlimited concurrency is allowed.
See notes about metadata batching below.
Examples:
This configuration contains one default batch processor and a second
with custom settings. The batch/2
processor will buffer up to 10000
spans, metric data points, or log records for up to 10 seconds without
splitting data items to enforce a maximum batch size.
processors:
batch:
batch/2:
send_batch_size: 10000
timeout: 10s
This configuration will enforce a maximum batch size limit of 10000
spans, metric data points, or log records without introducing any
artificial delays.
processors:
batch:
send_batch_max_size: 10000
timeout: 0s
Refer to config.yaml for detailed
examples on using the processor.
Batching by metadata enables support for multi-tenant OpenTelemetry
Collector pipelines with batching over groups of data having the same
authorization metadata. For example:
processors:
batch:
# batch data by tenant-id
metadata_keys:
- tenant_id
# limit to 10 batcher processes before raising errors
metadata_cardinality_limit: 10
Receivers should be configured with include_metadata: true
so that
metadata keys are available to the processor.
Note that each distinct combination of metadata triggers the
allocation of a new background task in the Collector that runs for the
lifetime of the process, and each background task holds one pending
batch of up to send_batch_size
records. Batching by metadata can
therefore substantially increase the amount of memory dedicated to
batching.
The maximum number of distinct combinations is limited to the
configured metadata_cardinality_limit
, which defaults to 1000 to
limit memory impact.
Users of the batching processor configured with metadata keys should
consider use of an Auth extension to validate the relevant
metadata-key values.
The number of batch processors currently in use is exported as the
otelcol_processor_batch_metadata_cardinality
metric.
Batching with error transmission
The use of unlimited concurrency is recommended for this component.
This component's legacy configuration had max_concurrency
of 1 and
early_return
set true. The use of early_return
in the legacy
configuration prevented error transmission through this component.
When the exporterhelper queue_sender
is disabled, which is also
necessary for error transmission, the result combined with
max_concurrency
of 1 would be synchronous export behavior, meaning
that a new batch could not be formed until the preceding batch
completed its export. Setting max_concurrency
to 0 for unlimited
concurrency is recommended because it works with all configurations of
the exporterhelper.
The use of unlimited concurrency should not be considered a risk,
because the actions of this processor take place after the associated
memory has been allocated. Users are expected to implement memory
limits using other means, possibly via the memorylimiter
extension
or another form of admission control.