Meaning of log

A log is a record of events that occur when a system or software runs, or the history and messages of users, systems, or interactions between users.

It is mainly used for computer-related access history and communications.

Originally, the word “log” referred to a log, but in the past, logs were used to observe the speed of a ship, so the word “log” came to have the meaning of a record of a voyage (a logbook), and now it is used as a log. It has been derived to mean “record of correspondence.”

Additionally, in the event of data leakage or hacking of a computer or

server

, you can check the access log to see where the attack came from and who carried out the attack.

event log

Event logs are records of data that record events that occur while the system is running, allowing you to understand system behavior and diagnose problems. In particular, in server applications, etc., the systems are complex and it is difficult to understand the activity status, so it is essential to collect logs to understand the activities.

It is also useful to combine log files from multiple sources. It is also possible to obtain correlations between seemingly unrelated events on each server through statistical analysis.

transaction log

A transaction log is a file that records communications between a system and its users, or data that automatically captures the type, content, and time of interactions from a device to the system.

In web searches, transaction logs are electronic records of interactions that occur between web

search engines

and users.

message log

Internet Relay Chat (IRC), Instant Messenger (IM), P2P file sharing clients with conversation capabilities, and multiplayer games allow users to record messages exchanged publicly or privately.

Message logs are typically plain text files, but may also be saved as

HTML

files or custom formats for readability or encryption.

server log

The server log is a file automatically created and saved by the server that records the server’s execution history.

An example is server logs that maintain the history of page requests on the web.

Information about the request (such as the client’s IP address, the date and time of the request, and the page requested) is logged, and new records are typically appended to the end of the file.

Data can be divided into different types of information such as access logs, error logs, referrer logs, etc., and these can also be treated as one file.

Generally, we do not collect user-specific information in server logs.

Reference article

Related terms