Server extensions and choices

Server extensions and choices

Server extensions

Zipkin server bundles extension for span collection and storage. By default spans can be collected over http, Kafka or RabbitMQ transports and stored in-memory or in MySQL, Cassandra or Elasticsearch.

The following modules add storage or transport extensions to the default server build.Please refer to their individual documentation for setup and configuration guides.

OpenZipkin supported

The following extensions are supported by the OpenZipkin team and are hosted atthe OpenZipkin GitHub group. You can reach out tothe team on Zipkin Gitter chat.

Type Module Related product Other notes
Collector zipkin-aws collector-sqs AWS SQS
Collector zipkin-aws collector-kinesis AWS Kinesis
Storage zipkin-aws storage-elasticsearch-aws AWS Elasticsearch Service
Storage zipkin-aws storage-xray AWS X-Ray only supports sending to an XRay UDP daemon
Storage zipkin-gcp storage-stackdriver GCP Stackdriver only supports sending to an Stackdriver

Community supported

Type Module Related product Other notes
Storage zipkin-logzio Logz.io Supports both sending and reading back data to and from Logz.io: Secure & Scalable Log Management with Cloud-Based ELK
Storage zipkin-scouter storage-scouter Scouter APM only supports sending to an Scouter
Storage zipkin-storage-kafka Apache kafka Supports aggregation and indexing of tracing data via Kafka Streams State Store.
Reporter spring-cloud-sleuth-haystack-reporter Haystack Supports sending data to Haystack, a resilient, scalable tracing and analysis system.

Alternative servers

The OpenZipkin team publish apis, data formats, and shared libraries that allow alternate backends to process thesame data sent to the default Zipkin server.

Community supported

Listed below are alternative backends that accept Zipkin format. Some use the same code as Zipkin on the same endpoints while others are on alternative endpoints or partially support features. In any case, the following aim to allow existing zipkin clients to use backends the OpenZipkin team does not support. Hence, direct questions to their respective communities.

  • Apache SkyWalking
    • When zipkin-receiver is enabled, Skywalking exposes the same HTTP POST endpoints Zipkin does
      • http port 9411 accepts /api/v1/spans (thrift, json) and /api/v2/spans (json, proto) POST requests.
      • this extension uses the same encoding library and same endpoints as Zipkin does.
  • Jaeger
    • When COLLECTOR_ZIPKIN_HTTP_PORT=9411 is set, Jaeger exposes a partial implementation of Zipkin’s HTTP POST endpoints
      • http port 9411 accepts /api/v1/spans (thrift, json) and /api/v2/spans (json, proto) POST requests.
    • When SPAN_STORAGE_TYPE=kafka and zipkin-thrift, Jaeger reads Zipkin v1 thrift encoded span messages from a Kafka topic.
      • Note: The above is a deprecated practice in Zipkin. Most instrumentation bundle multiple spans per message in v2 format.
  • Pitchfork
    • Pitchfork exposes the same HTTP POST endpoints Zipkin does
      • http port 9411 accepts /api/v1/spans (thrift, json) and /api/v2/spans (json, proto) POST requests.

Did we miss a server extension or alternative? Please open a pull-request toopenzipkin.github.io.