Log management knowledge base

The Log Management Knowledge Base is a free database of detailed descriptions on over 20,000 event logs generated by Windows systems, syslog devices and applications.[1] Provided as a free service to the IT community by Prism Microsystems, the aim of the Knowledge Base is to help IT personnel make sense of the large amounts of cryptic and arcane[2] log data generated by network systems and IT infrastructures.

Log data provides a record of all corporate system activity and is critical for improving security,[3] complying with requirements such as Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA[4] and PCI-DSS, and optimizing IT operations.[5] However, given the large number of logs produced by different devices, their inherent obscurity and the lack of a standard logging format, system-specific expertise is typically needed to extract any meaningful intelligence.[6]

The Knowledge Base provides this expertise free of charge via a searchable web repository with the aim of making log data readily understandable by all.[7] The Knowledge Base can be searched using any combination of event log ID, source or fragments of the description field. Advanced search options are available as well[8]