Collect, manage, and analyze logs to collect information about the system’s efficiency and performance by installing an open-source log management system.
Overview
This blog post is for you whether you are a developer or a DevOps professional. Operating systems or software applications perform various tasks that are sometimes dependent on third-party applications. Also, the applications running in production environments demand a complete system of tracing and logging the details of malfunction or breakdown. Therefore, almost all the software come with a logging system in which the details of all the events are stored in a file. System admins or software developers then refer to this activity log file to trace any error in case of a crash. In this scenario, you definitely need software for event log management. In this blog post, we will explore the need for an open-source log management tool for any business software.
The following points will be covered in this article:
- What is a Log Management System?
- Challenges attached with Event Log Management
- How an open-source Log Management Tool can help?
What is a Log Management System?
In simple words, a log management system(LMS) is software that collects log data and performs various operations on that data. In addition, the log-monitoring tool sorts collected data, performs analysis algorithms, and then takes decisions about the retention of logged data. Further, an LMS(log management system) generates a comprehensive report after reviewing the server log files that indicate the vulnerabilities, threats, and security loopholes. So, in a nutshell, logging and monitoring tools automate event log management that eventually gives a competitive edge to the business software.
Moreover, the reporting tool of an LMS performs a key role in identifying the issues and making log files searchable by generating the indexes. The best part is that all that happens through a configuration interface provided by the log management system(LMS). However, administrators can then enable the automated workflows to keep the server’s health up & running.
Challenges attached with Event Log Management
In fact, it has become very easy to handle some of the common & conventional issues relate to storage, speed, and network. Even though there are certain areas where system admins face challenges to address the following issues:
Massive Log Volume: This is one of the challenges that any organization can face. It becomes a mission impossible to collect and sort huge amounts of log data where there are hundreds and thousands of servers involved. So, a Log Management System(LMS) offers provisions to handle massive log volumes in an efficient way.
Data Format Variations: Managing various data formats coming from multiple sources is not an easy job and can be a challenge for any logging and monitoring tool. Since system admins are not sure about the data format coming from various endpoints of the system.
Efficiency: For example, if there are hundreds of interconnected servers and any breakdown occurs, then it would become a time-consuming task to go through so many log files to reach the details of the root cause. Moreover, doing it manually will increase the operational cost attached to event log management.
Accessibility: It is another factor that may lead to hassle. In addition, the indexing of logs and adding searchable features make log files accessible. Adding timestamps and categorizing the log data can enable system admins to query stored log data.
Operational Cost: A Log Management System(LMS) is a must-have component of any IT infrastructure working in any organization. Whenever there is any application breakdown occurs, it should be easy to troubleshoot and catch the root cause. In addition, cloud-based environments come with more complex logging mechanisms so opting for a logging and monitoring tool will surely make the process efficient.
How an open-source Log Management Tool can help?
Here comes the open-source community that has been contributing to the tech world immensely. Just like the other software categories, there are many open-source log-monitoring tools that offer enterprise-level features to store and manage log files. Further, an open-source LMS can make your log files more accessible and reduce the costs attached to manual practices.
In fact, whenever there is any software crash or system breakdown, it is all about how you log operational details. Open-source event log management software offers an intuitive and customizable interface. So, there are many other aspects that we will cover in the coming blog post.
Conclusion
This brings us to the end of this blog post. To conclude, we have gone through the importance of an open-source Log Management Tool for your stack of business applications. It involved the introduction of a log management system, we also went through the challenges attached to performing event log management manually. In addition, this article will really help you in making the right decision regarding opting for logging and monitoring tools. There are some other interesting articles enlisted in the “See Also” section below.
Finally, containerize.com is continuously writing blog posts on further open-source products and topics. Moreover, you can follow us on our social media accounts Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
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FAQs
Why use a log management analysis tool?
You may follow this link to know why you use a log management system for your business app. In addition, installing an open-source log monitoring tool offers a rich stack of features to store and sort log data in an efficient way.
What are the key benefits of log management and monitoring?
Please follow this link to know the benefits attached to log management and monitor software.