ELK DevOps: In order to ensure the performance of the information system, DevOps operators have to carry out numerous tasks, such as data retrieval, log analysis, processing, visualization and so on. And for each of these tasks, different tools are available. While the aim of these tools is to simplify the work of system administrators, their multitude can also make it more complex. For this very reason, new solutions are emerging to meet all the needs of IT experts. ELK is one of them. So what is it? Why use this tool? You'll find the answers in this article.
What is ELK DevOps?
“ELK” est l’acronyme Elasticsearch, Logstash et Kibana. Il s’agit de 3 projets open source gérés par l’entreprise Elastic.
Elasticsearch
This analysis tool is based on the Apache Lucene search engine.
In concrete terms, Elasticsearch is a NoSQL database.
The objective is twofold:
1. Store all data in one central location to simplify in-depth searching.
2. Analyze the data in the database.
For users, it provides a smooth, reliable, and easy-to-manage solution.
Logstash
It’s a solution aimed at simplifying data processing. Indeed, Logstash integrates data from various sources into a single storage system, like Elasticsearch. The idea is to centralize all data into log pools.
In addition to collecting available information, Logstash will also filter and transform data with different formats. This is essential work to simplify and standardize data analytics.
Kibana
It is a data visualization tool that allows users to have an overview of the system and organization. Thanks to its interactive dashboard, Kibana simplifies data interpretation, even for the most complex data.
With ELK, DevOps now have access to these three tools in one place.
Why use ELK for DevOps?
ELK for log analysis
ELK is an essential tool for log analysis. But why is it so important?
Logs are files that contain information related to the management and monitoring of the company’s computer system. They record all the information and actions performed by the company’s tools, by all users.
Therefore, it is thanks to logs that the company is able to continue its operations.
In addition to collecting various actions, logs detect problems that impact the performance or security of the infrastructure.
Log analysis is therefore essential to resolve any potential issues and maintain a high level of performance. However, to perform this log analysis, system administrators and DevOps must collect data, search for it, normalize it, interpret it, and visualize it.
This is where the ELK Stack comes into play.
The benefits of ELK Stack
By facilitating log analysis, ELK becomes an indispensable tool for system administrators for several reasons.
Centralization: With ELK Stack, the main data management tasks are consolidated in one place. This means that DevOps no longer need to open multiple software applications to transform data, conduct searches, or perform analyses. They can now easily leverage data with ELK.
Enhanced security: By improving log analysis, ELK enables system administrators to detect security vulnerabilities more quickly.
Real-time log analysis: The combination of the three ELK tools allows DevOps to easily harness information from diverse sources, whether the data is structured or unstructured.
If this monitoring tool is a real aid for information system managers, it is still necessary to master its operation. If you are not familiar with it, you can always take a specialized training. At DataScientest, we precisely teach you all the tools necessary for DevOps.
