Logentries Unveils Query Language for Log Data

The Challenges of Gaining Useful Insight into Data

Looking to help make it simpler to navigate massive amounts of log data, Logentries this week announced it has developed a query language that is similar in construct to SQL.

Logentries Chief Scientist Trevor Parsons said that it became apparent that one of the reasons that IT organizations are not making as much use of log data as they might is that it’s difficult for the average person to derive any meaningful data from all the logs that IT winds up accumulating. The Logentries Query Language (LEQL) enables users to analyze log data using sophisticated search functions such as Count, Sum, Average, Min, Max, Group By and Sort, said Parsons.

In addition to launching LEQL, Logentries this week announced that it is making available a security information event management (SIEM) service on top of its log management cloud platform and that the log management cloud platform itself now supports instances of Microsoft Azure.

With more businesses becoming increasingly dependent on IT, interest in analyzing log data to identify everything from new business opportunities to how certain vulnerabilities are being exploited by malware has substantially increased.

One of the things that sets Logentries apart is that the company provides access to a subscription for as little as $29 per month on an annualized basis. As such, Logentries is emerging as a log management alternative that is significantly less costly than better-known rival offerings.

Couple that with a much improved user experience, and it would appear that Logentries is emerging as a serious contender at a time when interest in log management and analytics has never been higher.