What are the benefits and drawbacks of using centralized logging for IIS servers?

3 How to configure centralized logging

To use centralized logging for IIS servers, you have to enable the Advanced Logging feature on each server, and configure the log definition and destination. You can use the IIS Manager or the appcmd command-line tool to do this. You can choose from different destination types, such as ODBC, ETW, or File System. For example, to use ODBC as the destination, you have to create a database and a table to store the log data, and specify the connection string and the table name in the log definition. You can also customize the log fields and filters to capture the data you need.

4 Best practices for centralized logging

To make the most of centralized logging for IIS servers, you should follow some best practices. First, you should plan and design your centralized logging system carefully, considering factors like network capacity, storage size, data retention, and security. Second, you should test and monitor your centralized logging system regularly, checking for errors, failures, or bottleneecs. Third, you should optimize and automate your centralized logging system, using tools like compression, encryption, or scripting to reduce the size, protect the data, or perform tasks like backup or cleanup.

5 Alternatives to centralized logging

If you decide that centralized logging is not suitable for your IIS servers, you can explore other options to manage your log data. One option is to use distributed logging, which means sending the log data from each server to a different location, such as a local file or a remote server. This can reduce network traffic and dependency, but it can also make log analysis and reporting more difficult. Another option is to use a third-party service or tool, such as Azure Monitor or Splunk, to collect, store, and analyze your log data. This can offer more features and scalability, but it can also cost more and require more integration.