What Is a Log?
A log is a computer’s listed record of its activity. It’s usually used for backups, data recovery, or statistics.
How Does Log Server Work?
When you want to keep an eye on the logs for a specific machine (a laptop, computer, etc.), you connect its IP address (basically its ID number) to Nagios Log Server using the Log Server setup wizards.
Why Would You Use Log Server?
It’s a lot of work to read through all of those logs, which is where Log Server comes in. Log Server has user-friendly features like a search function. You can refine your logs to a specific purpose, like failed logins or a specific date, so you can easily find the logs you need.
Log Server’s customizable home dashboard lets you display log data in a variety of ways, whether that’s a map or a bar chart.
Or, if you’re interested in trends in your log activity, you can set up an alert system so you’ll be notified when certain patterns arise in the logs.
I’m still not totally getting it…
Let’s say you manage a national coffee chain. You want to keep an eye on the shops to make sure there aren’t any errors happening (like an employee who keeps putting the wrong order in at the register).
You decide to connect every register at your coffee chain locations to Log Server. Now you can look through the log activity from your registers to find any issues or errors, like failed orders.
You customize the Log Server dashboard so you can see which geographic regions have the most issues and drill down into the detailed information provided by the register’s log.
Someone wants to audit your coffee shop in NYC? No worries! You can easily pull the register logs from the time frame they need.
You also want to stay on top of any trends in your store’s activity. Maybe you have a feeling that lattes are going to be really popular this time of year. You can set up an alert that notifies you when a bunch of latte orders come through, signifying that there’s a latte trend on the rise, and you can act accordingly!
