Log files are akin to databases having information about particular information systems. The kind of information stored on the files include administrator’s name, point of access, date, and even the logins used to access the system. In addition, they often show information about any authorized and unauthorized attempts to access a given information system. Event logs have been used to make corrections to faulty systems. However, the approach has imminent drawbacks given the nature of the event logs. The following discourse focuses on the setbacks that come from using event logs to repair faulty processes.
Event logs usually lack what is termed as usability information. Although they give important information about automated systems, which helps in the identification of common faults, the logs cannot give an accurate information about the characters, or personality, of the persons who use such a system. For instance, an event log of clients using a company’s online portal will not point out the particular needs of the visitors to the site. Based on this, even if there was an error, it would be a challenge to make corrections to the system in a way in which it will address the desires of every unique visitor to the portal. Therefore, the limitation of the event logs to characterize and profile users make it hard to rely on them to make the right corrections on faulty systems.
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"The Limitations of Event/Process Logs".
Event logs are relied upon after an incident, or fault, has occurred. In a way, therefore, they cannot be relied on to prevent any future incidences or faults. In brief, the logs are about past incidences which have already happened, or identified. Whenever any system administrator is interested in event logs, the implication is that a problem would have occurred already. This reality means that logs have a limitation when it comes to providing real time information which can be relied upon to evert a crisis or a failure. Therefore, relying on such logs would mean that such a system will still be susceptible to failures in future. However, this does not mean that event logs cannot be used to make predictions about likely failures in the future. The only problem is that they cannot help prevent every failure, or intended attacks on a system.
Event logs often have a margin of error which might often compromise the accuracy of the information they have when failures arise. The surest way of addressing failures is by accurately identifying the causes of such problems. However, since event logs have a margin of error, they fail to capture the correct information when an error occurs. In solving problems, even while attempting to avert any future crisis, it is important to have an accurate information so as to come with definitive processes which address the problem. Therefore, relying on event logs can compromise the ability of an administrator to solve any problem, let alone avert possible attacks in the future.
With the advent of technology, system updates usually render older systems redundant. Therefore, it would be problematic to rely on old event logs when systems are updated. The implication is that such updates may have incompatibility issues with current systems thus rendering them irrelevant in addressing any failures. Therefore, in view of the possibility of having future system updates, event logs may be unreliable in addressing any current failures.
Failures are bound to occur in many systems. However, the way such incidences are addressed is of utmost importance. Event logs provide valuable information in identifying common issues which might lead to failures. However, in using them, one should acknowledge their limitations as noted above. Doing that will avert any failures in the future.
