Documentation Grafana Cloud Visualize data Simplified exploration Traces Drilldown Investigate trends and spikes Choose a RED metric

Choose a RED metric

Traces Drilldown uses RED metrics generated from your tracing data to guide your investigation. In this context, RED metrics mean:

• Rates show the rate of incoming spans per second.
• Errors show spans that are failing.
• Duration displays the amount of time those spans take; represented as a heat map that shows response time and latency.

When you select a RED metric, the tabs underneath the metric selection change to match the context. Breakdown and Comparison tabs are always present regardless of which metric you choose. For example, selecting Duration displays Root cause latency and Slow traces tabs in addition to Breakdown and Comparison. Choosing Errors shows Root cause errors, Exceptions, and Errored traces tabs in addition to Breakdown and Comparison. Rate shows Service structure and Traces tabs in addition to Breakdown and Comparison. These tabs are used when you analyze tracing data.

To choose a RED metric:

1. Select a graph to select a Rate, Errors, or Duration metric type. Notice that your selection changes the first drop-down list on the filter bar.
2. Optional: Select the signal you want to observe. Root spans is the default selection.
3. Look for spikes or trends in the data to help identify issues.