The processor optimizes trace data before it is exported to the OTel Collector. OTel supports two types of processors:
  • Simple span processor–Exports the spans and their span data to the configured span exporter as soon as the spans are finished.
  • Batch span processor–Creates batches of the finished spans and exports the span data to the configured endpoint.

Simple span processor configuration details

The following table presents the configuration details that you can specify for the span_processor property:

Table 1. Configuration details of the simple span processor
Property Value Description
span_processor Simple Sends the ended span to the endpoint of the exporter as soon as the span is finished.
Batch Batches the ended spans and sends them to the endpoint of the exporter in bulk.

Batch span processor configuration details

The following table presents the configuration details that you can specify for the batch_processor_options property:

Table 2. Configuration details of the batch span processor
Property Value Type Description Default value
batch_processor_options max_queue_size integer Specifies the maximum size of the buffer or queue used to store spans. After the maximum size is reached, any additional spans will be dropped until spans in the queue are exported to the collector. If your spans are dropped, you must reduce the value of max_export_batch_size, schedule_delay_millis, or both. 2048 spans
schedule_delay_millis integer Specifies the time interval, in milliseconds, between two consecutive exports. 5000 milliseconds
max_export_batch_size integer Specifies the maximum batch size of every export. It must be smaller than or equal to the max_queue_size option. 512 spans