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Server Log Analysis provides information on techniques for measuring system performance and traffic from server logs.

Provides information on techniques for measuring system performance and traffic from server logs.

Frequently Asked Questions About Analyzing Server Log Files

What are server log files and how can they be used to measure system performance and traffic?

Server log files are records of Web server activity (or server activity for any digital medium). They provide details about file requests to a server and the server response to those requests. Collecting and analyzing these files can provide:

  • Information about who is coming to your Web site
  • What information they're requesting
  • Their navigation and behavior

What types of data you collect on your server depends on how it has been set up and defined by the technical staff. The ideal log file for performance and traffic analysis should contain the following data:

Types of log data to collect

  • Who is visiting your site. You want unique visitor identification so you know whether a visitor is returning to your site.
  • The path visitors take through your pages. With knowledge of each page a visitor viewed and the order, you can identify trends in how visitors navigate through your pages. You also want to know what element (link, icon) a visitor clicked on each page to go to the next page.
  • How much time visitors spend on each page. A pattern of lengthy viewing time on a page might lead you to deduce the page is very interesting or very confusing.
  • Where visitors are leaving your site. The last page a visitor viewed before leaving your site might be a logical place to end the visit, or it might be a place where the visitor bailed out.
  • The success of usersÍ experiences at your site. Purchases transacted, downloads completed, and information viewed are concrete indicators of tasks accomplished.
 

From Tec-Ed, Inc., "Assessing Web Site Usability from Server Log Files" on Tec-Ed., Inc. Web site http://www.teced.com/c_and_p.html#WU

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What does a server log file look like?

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Here is an example of a log file:

    Time   |   IP Address     |      Server    |   Action | Object | Result code and size |            Browser / version and platform              |                  Refering URL
  
  01:50:17 216.126.148.89 - ICICWEB1 GET /pdq.html - 200 16391 295 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+4.01;+Windows+98)    http://cancernet.nci.nih.gov/pdqsrch.shtml 
  01:50:17 216.126.148.89 - ICICWEB1 GET /images/pdq.gif - 200 793 290 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+4.01;+Windows+98)    http://128.231.164.190/pdq.html 
  01:50:18 216.126.148.89 - ICICWEB1 GET /images/banner1.gif    - 200 4067 294 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+4.01;+Windows+98) http://128.231.164.190/pdq.html   
  01:50:18 216.126.148.89 - ICICWEB1 GET /images/news.gif - 200 1054 291 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+4.01;+Windows+98)    http://128.231.164.190/pdq.html 
  01:50:18 216.126.148.89 - ICICWEB1 GET /images/sn_top.gif    - 200 277 293 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+4.01;+Windows+98) http://128.231.164.190/pdq.html    
  01:50:19 216.126.148.89 - ICICWEB1 GET /images/sn_visitor.gif - 200 767 297    Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+4.01;+Windows+98) http://128.231.164.190/pdq.html   
  01:50:19 216.126.148.89 - ICICWEB1 GET /images/sn_rule.gif - 200 371 294 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+4.01;+Windows+98)    http://128.231.164.190/pdq.html 
  01:50:19 216.126.148.89 - ICICWEB1 GET /images/sn_new.gif    - 200 911 293 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+4.01;+Windows+98) http://128.231.164.190/pdq.html    
  01:50:19 216.126.148.89 - ICICWEB1 GET /images/sn_about.gif - 200 720 295 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+4.01;+Windows+98)    http://128.231.164.190/pdq.html   
  01:50:20 216.126.148.89 - ICICWEB1 GET /images/sn_ways.gif    - 200 1066 294 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+4.01;+Windows+98) http://128.231.164.190/pdq.html    
  01:50:20 216.126.148.89 - ICICWEB1 GET /images/sn_cis.gif - 304 139 379 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+4.01;+Windows+98)    http://128.231.164.190/pdq.html 
  01:50:20 216.126.148.89 - ICICWEB1 GET /images/sn_short.gif    - 200 578 295 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+4.01;+Windows+98) http://128.231.164.190/pdq.html    
  01:50:20 216.126.148.89 - ICICWEB1 GET /images/sn_trials.gif - 200 590 296 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+4.01;+Windows+98)    http://128.231.164.190/pdq.html 
  01:50:20 216.126.148.89 - ICICWEB1 GET /images/sn_espanol.gif    - 200 538 297 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+4.01;+Windows+98) http://128.231.164.190/pdq.html    
  01:50:22 216.126.148.89 - ICICWEB1 GET /images/sn_pdq_search.gif - 200 775 300    Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+4.01;+Windows+98) http://128.231.164.190/pdq.html    
  01:50:28 216.126.148.89 - ICICWEB1 GET /images/sn_search_clin.gif - 200 739    301 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+4.01;+Windows+98) http://128.231.164.190/pdq.html    
  01:50:30 216.126.148.89 - ICICWEB1 GET /images/sn_bott.gif - 200 354 294 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+4.01;+Windows+98)    http://128.231.164.190/pdq.html 
  01:50:30 216.126.148.89 - ICICWEB1 GET /images/gray_hrule.gif    - 200 268 297 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+4.01;+Windows+98) http://128.231.164.190/pdq.html    
  01:50:30 216.126.148.89 - ICICWEB1 GET /images/sn_links.gif - 200 749 295 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+4.01;+Windows+98)    http://128.231.164.190/pdq.html 
  01:50:30 216.126.148.89 - ICICWEB1 GET /images/sn_view.gif    - 200 981 294 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+4.01;+Windows+98) http://128.231.164.190/pdq.html    
  01:50:30 216.126.148.89 - ICICWEB1 GET /images/red_square.gif - 200 314 297    Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+4.01;+Windows+98) http://128.231.164.190/pdq.html    
  01:50:31 216.126.148.89 - ICICWEB1 GET /images/sn_nci.gif - 200 1302 293 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+4.01;+Windows+98)    http://128.231.164.190/pdq.html 

 

How do you analyze server log files?

Depending on the size of your server, log files can contain extreme amounts of data that may be irrelevant to what you're looking for. Work with your technical staff to identify software that analyzes and summarizes the log data, a variety of tools are available. Technical staff can also help set the log files to capture data of most importance to your organization.

Reviews of Web Site Analysis Tools
http://webdesign.about.com/cs/loganalysistools/index.htm

If your log files are small, you might be able to work with the raw data using a tool like a spreadsheet program.

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Web Sites

Usable Web
http://usableweb.com/topics/000649-0-0.html

  • Has information on log analysis
  • Includes links about using server log files

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Articles

A 24-Hour Focus Group: Sites dig into search queries to learn customer preferences
http://www.internetwk.com/lead/lead040700-1.htm

Assessing Web Site Usability from Server Log Files
http://www.teced.com/c_and_p.html#WU

Characterizing Browsing Strategies in the World-Wide Web
http://www.igd.fhg.de/archive/1995_www95/proceedings/papers/80
/userpatterns/UserPatterns.Paper4.formatted.html

Measuring User Motivation from Server Log Files http://www.microsoft.com/usability/webconf/fuller/fuller.htm

Web Traffic Analysis Turns Management Data To Business Data http://www.internetwk.com/story/INW19990402S0006

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