Glossary · Automation software engineering and architecture
Observability
German: Beobachtbarkeit
In software operations, observability is the degree to which the internal state of a running system can be inferred from its external outputs, typically logs, metrics and traces, so that unexpected problems can be investigated.
- Software engineering
In one sentence
Observability is how well a running system's internal state can be understood from its logs, metrics and traces.
Example
The edge gateway exports metrics on queue depth and connection state and writes structured logs, so the service team can see why data from one line stopped arriving.
Explained in context
Context cards connect this term with others to answer one question. Also in British English and German.
How it applies
- Engineering: Observability is designed in: components emit Structured logging events, metrics and trace context. Adding it after a field problem is much harder.
- Operation: Good observability shortens troubleshooting of distributed systems, where a symptom on one machine can have its cause in another service.
- Documentation: Document which logs and metrics exist, what they mean, how long they are kept and how to export them for support. Operator and service manuals should explain how to collect diagnostic data before calling support.
Observability vs. monitoring
Monitoring checks known conditions against thresholds and raises alarms. Observability is broader: it provides enough data to investigate questions nobody anticipated. In control theory, observability also has a narrower mathematical meaning about reconstructing a system's state from its outputs.