Log Management Practices for Efficient Decision Making

Technological advancements have not only simplified our working structure but have also added more complexities in managing the log data of an organization. There has been an absolute dominance over the network attacks in the recent times. This has shown that with efficient management of machine-generated logs, we can witness a robust future ready platform being built to overcome any critical challenges that organization may face.

Debugging, performance monitoring and troubleshooting are the integral parts of the log management. Each of these functions are independent and can hold stakes for performing the said tasks. Logs created from server instances may contain large data, and it will need a framework to localize the language. Developers may use rich tools to provide the communication status and output of such instances.

Not all logs are forwarded to the administration server; there are filters in place which forward only security level detailed logs that are of prime importance. In this blog, we will discuss how log management practices can improve the security level as well as provide quick solutions to complex problems.

We live in the age of advanced data, where the amount of data increases every other day and for that matter now every hour. Any amount of data can be effectively managed if the logs are structured and correlated with other log data. This will impact the time factor in the investigation, analyzing and problem-solving. There are few best commonly followed practices for efficiently managing the log data of different servers –

A well-defined log entry in the systems can save hours of data analysis. Unstructured data complicates the process of identifying the problem. Data scientists build a strategy to develop information specific logs when dealing with massive data. You may also be considering the reasons for entering a new log before you inject them in the systems. There are compliance requirements in specific business houses to retain and monitor logs which help in enhancing customer service.

All we need is logs that help solve problems that we may encounter during network traffic. IT professionals manage logs in a structured format that offers multiple benefits. It helps to identify and extract the right information you are looking for from such logs. It may help a professional who analyses the log or a system which automates the data and sends signals of anomalies in the network in real time. The formats of logs can be made in two forms as it helps to understand the problem better and solutions can be derived easily. Machine language helps in visualization of the problem and localized language to understand better.

Stand-alone software systems may also manage logs. These systems send specific intrusions in the network to the workstation for further analysis and understanding the more profound insights of the problems. This may be called as centralizing the log entry.

Stand-alone systems minimize the risks of data loss and alert the issue to the central team for quicker actions. It is important not to disturb the existing environment while troubleshooting the issue. The anomalies detected in the logs are forwarded automatically to the workstations. This creates a replication of logs. Data breach can be easily identified even when the attacks try to delete the data breach log from the systems.

It is important for any organization to maintain logs. The collected logs give insights to customer preferences. It may help the e-commerce company to make the product available on their website quickly. A standard way to monitor log is by the end to end logging where entries are analyzed at various levels. This may include event logs at server interface, infrastructure logs, maintenance logs, operator login and logout, network logs, etc. The integral approach creates a proactive environment even before the intrusion shows up.

Dynamic entries in the log help in identifying the exact error. For example, if there is a broken link on the website, it is alerted to the workstation as ‘broken link detected’ in a particular page, it may take time to trace the location of the exact error. But if the log entry gives you which link is broken like say product description button, it helps to solve the problem in no time. Dynamic logs may help retain customers in such cases as stated above.

It is essential to understand what log entries are required and demanded by the management. This may help in better financial decision making. Before we look upon the third party softwares to manage the logs, engineers may work out the requirements precisely as per the nature of the business. You may approach a particular vendor for your specific needs. Say if your aim to provide protection, then go for the software that proactively alerts the workstation before data breach can happen.

Log entries not just help in maintaining the required security levels but also enable the top level management to take valuable technology and business decisions. The commonly followed practices that we discussed strengthen the data security and create well-monitored as well as the structured environment in an organization.

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