KCNA Cloud Native Observability Practice Question
A team is implementing observability for a cloud native application. They want to adopt OpenTelemetry to instrument their code and collect telemetry data. Which TWO of the following are core components of the OpenTelemetry project? (Choose two.)
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that any popular observability tool is part of OpenTelemetry; instead, OpenTelemetry defines its own API, SDK, and Collector, while backends like Jaeger and Prometheus are external.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
OpenTelemetry API
OpenTelemetry consists of several core components, including the API, SDK, and Collector. The API defines the instrumentation interfaces, while the SDK provides the implementation. The Collector is a standalone service that receives, processes, and exports telemetry. Together, these components enable vendor-neutral collection of metrics, logs, and traces. Prometheus, Jaeger, and Fluentd are separate projects that can integrate with OpenTelemetry but are not part of it.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Fluentd
Why it's wrong here
Fluentd is a log collection and forwarding tool, often used in Kubernetes logging stacks. It is not part of OpenTelemetry. While OpenTelemetry has its own logging data model and can integrate with Fluentd, Fluentd remains a separate CNCF project. Therefore, it is not a core component of OpenTelemetry.
- ✓
OpenTelemetry API
Why this is correct
The OpenTelemetry API provides the interfaces and data types for instrumenting code to generate telemetry. It defines how to create spans, metrics, and logs, and is implemented by SDKs. It is a fundamental building block, as it allows developers to instrument their applications in a vendor-neutral way. Without the API, there would be no standard way to emit telemetry.
- ✗
Jaeger Backend
Why it's wrong here
Jaeger is a distributed tracing backend that can receive data from OpenTelemetry, but it is not a core component of OpenTelemetry. OpenTelemetry provides SDKs and the Collector to generate and export traces, but the storage and analysis backend is external. Jaeger is an independent project, so it is not part of the OpenTelemetry specification or implementation.
- ✗
Prometheus Server
Why it's wrong here
Prometheus Server is a monitoring system and time-series database, not part of OpenTelemetry. While OpenTelemetry can export metrics to Prometheus, Prometheus itself is a separate project under the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. It is not a core component of OpenTelemetry, which focuses on instrumentation and data collection standards.
- ✓
OpenTelemetry Collector
Why this is correct
The OpenTelemetry Collector is a vendor-agnostic service that receives, processes, and exports telemetry data. It can be deployed as an agent or gateway to decouple instrumentation from backends. It is a core component because it provides a flexible pipeline for handling metrics, traces, and logs, enabling aggregation, sampling, and routing to multiple destinations.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CNCF exam blueprint
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