Computer data logging

Computer data logging

Computer data logging is the process of recording events, with an automated computer program, in a certain scope in order to provide an audit trail that can be used to understand the activity of the system and to diagnose problems.

Logs are essential to understanding the activities of complex systems particularly in the case of applications with little user interaction (such as server applications).

It can also be useful to combine log file entries from multiple sources. This approach, in combination with statistical analysis, may yield correlations between seemingly unrelated events on different servers. Other solutions employ network-wide querying and reporting.

Contents

Examples

Examples of physical systems which have logging subsystems include process control systems, and black box recorders installed in aircraft.

Many operating systems and multitudinous computer programs include some form of logging subsystem.

In the simplest case, log messages are written to a log file. Most operating systems and software frameworks also provide more sophisticated services for logging. One example is the syslog service (described in RFC 3164), which allows the filtering and recording of log messages to be performed by a separate dedicated subsystem, rather than placing the onus on each application to provide its own ad hoc logging system.

Interpreting

In many cases, logs are esoteric or too verbose and therefore hard to understand; they need to be subjected to log analysis in order to make sense of them. This is often done using special log analysis software.

Transaction log

Most Databases maintain some kind of transaction log. Unlike the logs described above, these logs are not mainly intended as an audit trail for later analysis, and are not (easily) human-readable. Instead, they record changes to the stored data to allow the database to recover from crashes or other errors and maintain the stored data in a consistent state.

Most database systems have both a log in the general sense described above, and a transaction log.

See also


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Data logging — is the practice of recording sequential data, often chronologically.Etymology To log is a verb derivative of the noun logbook ; the verb form means to record in a logbook , and may have been coined in the 1820s. The term logbook itself stems from …   Wikipedia

  • Data logger — Cube storing technical and sensor data A data logger (also datalogger or data recorder) is an electronic device that records data over time or in relation to location either with a built in instrument or sensor or via external instruments and… …   Wikipedia

  • Data loss prevention software — Data Loss Prevention (DLP) is a computer security term referring to systems that identify, monitor, and protect data in use (e.g. endpoint actions), data in motion (e.g. network actions), and data at rest (e.g. data storage) through deep content… …   Wikipedia

  • Data acquisition — is the process of sampling signals that measure real world physical conditions and converting the resulting samples into digital numeric values that can be manipulated by a computer. Data acquisition systems (abbreviated with the acronym DAS or… …   Wikipedia

  • Computer keyboard — A key being pressed on a computer keyboard. In computing, a keyboard is a typewriter style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches. Following the decline of punch cards and paper… …   Wikipedia

  • Computer surveillance — This article is about surreptitious monitoring of computer activity. For information on methods of preventing unauthorized access to computer data, see computer security. Computer surveillance is the act of performing surveillance of computer… …   Wikipedia

  • Data acquisition system — A data acquisition system is a device designed to measure and log some parameters. The purpose of the data acquisition system is generally the analysis of the logged data and the improvement of the object of measurements. The data acquisition… …   Wikipedia

  • Java logging frameworks — multipleissues refimprove = June 2008 OR = June 2008 copyedit = June 2008Java logging frameworks are computer data logging packages for the Java platform.Logging is a common issue for most development teams. There have been several frameworks… …   Wikipedia

  • Computer surveillance in the workplace — refers to the issues related to the element of employee monitoring and workplace surveillance in which an employer engages in actively monitoring the usage of a company owned computer or terminal by an employee. Computer surveillance may also… …   Wikipedia

  • Data security — is the means of ensuring that data is kept safe from corruption and that access to it is suitably controlled. Thus data security helps to ensure privacy. It also helps in protecting personal data. Data security is part of the larger practice of… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”