Server Events Log Analysis

Log analysis is the process through which you can check your network data in the form of computer-generated log files. Log files are generated by devices and programs on your network, such as operating systems, network devices, and applications.

Whenever an event occurs in these devices or programs, a log can be automatically created to record details about the activity, including what occurred, when, and other important details. These logs can be viewed in real time or stored in log files to be reviewed later. Log analysis consists of reviewing log files to gain insights. Organizations and businesses may also be required to engage in log analysis as part of demonstrating compliance with regulations.

Effective log analysis can be improved with log analysis tools, which can help almost everything from problem diagnosis to improving security and performance. However, achieving those benefits can be challenging without the help of an event log analyzer tool. This is because the different devices and programs are often creating their own logs that cannot easily be compared to those being produced by other devices and programs. Log analysis tools help you correlate the data and make it correspond across the records from different devices, programs, and events. But event log analysis tools can also extract the data and find trends necessary for gaining insight into your network from the computer-generated log data. The best log analysis tools can create visual representations of log data from across your network to help you identify and troubleshoot possible issues faster.

The basic process of log analysis begins with collecting logs generated on your network. This may include reformatting logs into a single format, since most logs will be formatted differently as they’re produced by various applications and devices, run on different operating systems, and are from different vendors. When you reformat the logs in the same structure, you can more easily compare insights using the same data.

After you collect, parse, and restructure your logs, you then need to consider how your log data can be best viewed to support easier analysis.

Your infrastructure is constantly generating log data capable of giving you insight into system performance. However, because so much data is being produced all the time, it can be hard to find the data you need. While log analysis can be done manually, if you want to get to the bottom of performance issues faster, your best bet is to use a dedicated server log analyzer tool. A good solution provided by software vendors is a tool to assist with fast network detection and software configuration, such as the Discovery Wizard in SolarWinds Log Analyzer.

When you use quality log analysis tools like SolarWinds Log Analyzer, you can display your logs in a single centralized dashboard. From there, it’s much easier to search through the aggregated log files, correlate data from across the network, and even generate reports.

When you use a log analysis tool, these basic steps are performed automatically, so you can rest easier knowing you can quickly see and drill down into log when there’s an issue demanding attention. 

When it comes to maintaining security and improving performance, completing effective log analysis is crucial. Log analysis can help you quickly identify performance and availability issues capable of otherwise leading to a slow network at risk for configuration errors. When you don’t engage in sufficient log analysis with the help of a server log analyzer solution, you also run the risk of falling behind on hardware health monitoring.

To ensure you maximize the benefits of log analysis while minimizing the time you need to spend gaining those insights, a log analysis tool can help you more easily parse through and correlate log data into a single structure. With an event log analyzer tool, you can increase network security, improve your awareness of any potential network infrastructure problems, increase the availability of applications, servers, and services, and help ensure regulatory compliance. Log analysis tools can also help you detect protocol failures and network outages more quickly, while also identifying failed services and processes faster.

When your logs are normalized and visually represented on a single dashboard with the help of a server log analyzer, you can spend your time on pressing issues. With manual log collection automated, you can focus your efforts on more easily detecting patterns displayed in the log data, flagging issues, and identifying areas for performance optimization. You can also use the data normalized by an event log analyzer to help demonstrate compliance and to understand and monitor user behavior. 

SolarWinds Log Analyzer is a powerful log analysis tool designed to help with analyzing insights offered by log data without needing to endlessly monitor and normalize the logs yourself. The tool is designed to assist with collecting and analyzing traps, syslog, and VMWare and Windows events.

With SolarWinds server log analyzer features in Log Analyzer, you can:

• Get real-time log analysis of critical data. With the help of Log Analyzer, you can analyze authentication log display info from your infrastructure in near-real time to help maintain network config security and uptime.
• Find entries fast by filtering log data. The log analysis tool helps you sift through log data via intuitive, out-of-the-box filters to more quickly find relevant log entries.
• Analyze log data via an interactive chart and centralized dashboards. Quickly analyze log volume, search results, and refine timeframes via an interactive chart designed to help you visualize your normalized log data. The visualizations offer color-coded information to highlight which logs require your attention, so you know exactly where to look to solve problems faster.

Log Analyzer can be fully integrated with the SolarWinds Orion Platform, meaning you can combine insights from Log Analyzer with other SolarWinds tools to create a single, comprehensive solution for insights from across your environment in a centralized dashboard. Also included in the Orion Platform is an advanced alerting system to ensure you know when a performance or security issue arises, so you can begin troubleshooting and resolving the problem faster.