Understanding Local Log Files

In the local area network of LAN, the viewing and analysis of each unit’s log files or records of audit trail is important and necessary for the tracking of various activities within their company or business. Analysis of these various kinds of log data, is commonly known in the industry as the process of making sense of the different records that the computer or a network of computers generate on a specific time frame. But what are the different devices that can be able to generate these log files that would then later be analyzed? Listed below are the following.

Network Devices

Different kinds of network devices are also capable of emitting log files which then would later be viewed and analyzed by experts. Depending on the reason for doing so, they can be able to gather all the important information about these devices in order to perform a thorough analysis of these devices. Network devices would include cards for controlling network interface, hubs, bridges, repeaters, routers, switchers and firewalls.

Operating System

Basically one of the building blocks and one of the most important component of any computer system, its operating system or commonly as the OS is also capable of producing these log files which is quite important because everything that the computer tries to process, its own operating system is partly responsible for the completion of such task. A computer network’s operating system is one of the important areas where a comprehensive log viewing and analysis is commonly conducted.

Applications

Another important component of any computer system that is widely viewed and scanned for log files are the network’s various applications. Depending on the nature of the business, programmers focus on what applications they should be conducting most of their log viewing and analysis. For example, a bank’s local network of computers will focus mainly on money handling, transfer and audit. So it is safe to say that the applications that their people commonly use are those responsible for the completion of such banking tasks. These applications are then prioritized when it comes to log viewing and analysis since these are the ones that are commonly used and where issues and problems are commonly seen.

Philip
Log Viewer

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Log Analysis

A lot of times IT specialists and programmers often do a routine log analysis of a series of computers in the workplace for maintenance and troubleshooting of errors that has been found on the system. Data log files are the computer’s history of activities and processes which are imprinted on the computer’s system to be traced on later for possible issues and repair of known and unknown errors. The art and the science of turning those complex computer codes into something that can be read and understood by a human end user is called log analysis. And this process is impossible without the use of a tool known as a log analyzer. Mentioned above is one of the most common reasons why there is a need for log tracking and analysis. But aside from those reasons, there are also other areas where log analysis is needed. And some of them will be enumerated in this article.

Response to Security Incident

There will come a time when a certain company’s computer system may be infiltrated by an outside source aiming only to do harm to the entire system. When this occurs, the IT specialist or programmer would then need to perform a log analysis of the entire computer system of a company in order to figure out where exactly on the system the infiltration occurred, how it was done and eventually will lead to pointing out who did it. Because majority of these files are tagged as confidential and are kept safe within the company’s system, infiltrating or hacking into the system can be illegal, and the people responsible for such acts should be identified and charged if the act resulted in loss or damage to the company’s properties and assets.

Regulation Compliance

Some companies especially those working with money and other very important stuff would require their system to have a log analyzer in order to backtrack and analyze the business transactions done for a specific period of time. This is very important to these types of companies to constantly monitor progress of the business and to be able to identify discrepancies, shortages which could affect the way their business would operate.

Philip
Log Viewer

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