Slide 3 of 6

The hierarchy of observability needs

Why this matters

Observability works best as a progression. Each level builds on the previous, though teams sometimes need to work on multiple levels at once.

Hierarchy of Observability Needs - 4-layer pyramid showing Infrastructure Visibility, Baseline Service Visibility, Deep Transaction Insights, and Custom Logic

Each level builds on the previous

Each level provides context for the next.

DependencyWhy
Level 2 requires Level 1You can’t debug applications without seeing the infrastructure they run on
Level 3 requires Level 2You can’t trace requests without knowing which service is causing problems
Level 4 requires Level 3You can’t add custom instrumentation without understanding where to instrument

The key question at each level

LevelFocusKey question
Level 1Infrastructure“Is my infrastructure healthy?”
Level 2Services“Which service is the problem?”
Level 3Transactions“Why is this specific request slow?”
Level 4Application logic“What’s happening in my code?”

Script

This pyramid is the most important concept in the entire course. It’s going to change how you think about observability.

Here’s why it matters. Teams sometimes get excited about distributed tracing, jump straight into implementing it, and then struggle to make sense of any of it. Why? Because they skipped the foundation. They couldn’t tell if their servers were healthy, so how could they possibly debug why a request was slow?

Observability works like a pyramid. You need each level to support the one above it. Level 1 is your foundation, providing visibility into basic infrastructure health. Level 2 asks which service is causing problems. Level 3 digs into specific requests. And Level 4 is about your unique application logic.

The magic happens when you recognize this as a prerequisite chain. You can’t effectively debug application issues if you can’t see the infrastructure those applications run on. So if you’re just getting started, resist the temptation to skip ahead. Build the foundation first.

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