More flexible collector configuration thanks to fine grain CRDs

[Vincehood]

Component(s)

collector

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

I experimented a bit with the OpenTelemetry Operator, and my understanding is that it currently lacks the ability to do the following: apply a configuration snippet (e.g., a specific processor configuration) using a custom object and associate it with a deployed OpenTelemetryCollector instance (itself created using the OpenTelemetryCollector CRD). The OpenTelemetryCollector CRD, as it stands, only supports defining entire collector configurations.

Describe the solution you'd like

Introduce additional CRD(s) for configuration-based resources similar to the Prometheus Operator, which provides two types of CRDs: some for instance-based resources and other for configuration-based resources—and relies on a label selector pattern to associate and combine them into desired deployments. See https://prometheus-operator.dev/docs/getting-started/design/

For example, this would allow to create an OpenTelemetry Collector deployment by combining configurations defined in custom objects under the existing OpenTelemetryCollector CRD with configurations from new CRD(s) (perhaps called OpenTelemetryCollectorProcessor). This approach would offer greater flexibility and modularity when managing OpenTelemetry Collector configurations.

Describe alternatives you've considered

No response

Additional context

No response