Traditional observability requires instrumentation. Add libraries, modify code, redeploy. eBPF offers visibility into systems you can’t or won’t change, directly from the kernel.
The Problem
Instrumenting legacy applications was impractical. Some had no source code access. Others were vendor binaries. Many were “don’t touch it” systems where any change introduced risk.
Network visibility had gaps. Service meshes added overhead. Packet captures were unwieldy. Understanding traffic patterns between services required piecing together multiple data sources.
Performance profiling needed special builds. Debug symbols, sampling overhead, coordination with developers. By the time profiling was set up, the issue had often disappeared.
We needed observability that worked regardless of application cooperation.
Our Solution
eBPF-based tools provided unprecedented visibility. Small programs running in kernel space, attached to system calls, network events, and function entries. No application changes required.
Cilium for Kubernetes networking brought identity-aware traffic observation. We could see which services communicated with which, how often, and with what latency—all without sidecar proxies.
Continuous profiling with Pyroscope and eBPF. CPU and memory profiles collected automatically across all workloads. When an incident occurs, historical profiles show what was happening.
Network flow analysis showed unexpected traffic patterns. Applications phoning home to analytics services. Internal services hitting external endpoints. Visibility previously impossible without perimeter monitoring.
Security monitoring at the system call level. File access patterns, network connections, process execution—all captured without agents inside containers.
The Benefits
Legacy applications became observable. Systems untouched for years now had latency metrics, error rates, and traffic analysis. No vendor negotiations, no risky modifications.
Performance debugging accelerated. Continuous profiling meant data existed when incidents occurred. No reproduction required, no special builds needed.
Security posture improved through visibility. We discovered applications making connections that shouldn’t exist. eBPF monitoring caught what network policies alone couldn’t.
Operational overhead decreased. eBPF runs in kernel space with minimal performance impact. No sidecars consuming resources, no libraries adding latency.
eBPF represents a shift in observability philosophy: instead of asking applications to report their behaviour, we observe behaviour directly at the system level.