Talks
Speakers
Events
Topics
Sign in
Home
Talks
Speakers
Events
Topics
Leaderboard
Use
Analytics
Sign in
Suggest modification to this talk
Title
Description
Twilio's distributed architecture makes manually tracking down a communication bottleneck or failure almost impossible. By utilizing a distributed tracing system, Twilio can follow any request through each service layer and each host. In this talk, we will demonstrate how a Rails application can gain the same insights by instrumenting a multi-tier application and investigate tracing integration into a larger distributed ecosystem. Kenny Hoxworth is a software engineer at Twilio dedicated to the reliable delivery of messaging communication. He previously co-founded a cyber-security company in Baltimore, Maryland, where he helped design and build the company's Rails flagship application and backend technology stack. Help us caption & translate this video! http://amara.org/v/FG0b/
Date
Summarized using AI?
If this talk's summary was generated by AI, please check this box. A "Summarized using AI" badge will be displayed in the summary tab to indicate that the summary was generated using AI.
Show "Summarized using AI" badge on summary page
Summary
Markdown supported
In his talk at RailsConf 2014, Kenny Hoxworth, a software engineer at Twilio, addresses the challenges of tracking request performance in distributed systems through the lens of Twilio's architecture. He introduces the concept of distributed request tracing, which functions as a profiler for complex systems, allowing for detailed analysis of performance and debugging. The following key points were discussed: - **Definition of Distributed Request Tracing**: Hoxworth describes distributed tracing as a way to monitor the request cycle through various services in a distributed system, similar to profiling in traditional development environments. - **Architecture and Problem-Solving**: He explains how Twilio's messaging stack operates in a distributed fashion, with multiple services required to process inbound and outbound messages. The complexity of these operations often leads to challenges in diagnosing latency issues and failures, especially when scaled. - **Importance of Tracing for Scalability**: As Twilio scales, engineers often receive customer reports of performance issues. Hoxworth notes that tracing allows teams to pinpoint where delays occur across numerous interconnected services, enabling them to investigate and resolve problems effectively. - **Challenges of Implementation**: Hoxworth highlights that integrating distributed tracing into an existing system is easier if planned from the outset. Many developers often underestimate the complexity of tracing, especially when they have multiple components to connect. - **Tools for Distributed Tracing**: He discusses various existing tracing systems like X-Trace, Magpie, and Zipkin, with a focus on Zipkin, its architecture, and how it integrates with Ruby on Rails applications. Hoxworth explains the transparency and low-overhead requirements crucial to an effective tracing system. - **Real-world Application Example**: During the presentation, Hoxworth jokingly proposes an example project named "Cats as a Service." This helps illustrate the necessity of implementing tracing as the application scales and becomes more complex, allowing the audience to understand its practicality in a relatable context. - **Conclusion**: The talk concludes with Hoxworth emphasizing that although tracing can appear daunting, the right tools and approaches make it achievable. He encourages developers to implement tracing from the beginning of their projects to avoid problems in larger systems. Kenny Hoxworth ultimately presents distributed request tracing as a vital element of modern software development for enhancing reliability and performance in distributed environments.
Suggest modifications
Cancel
