The larger a computing infrastructure gets, the more difficult it becomes to pore through server logs to track down anomalies or errors. XpoLog Ltd. has introduced log management tools for Big Data that promise better searches at what it claims is a fraction of the cost of its competitors.

XpoLog, which has been around for a decade, focuses on building log analytics software for applications rather than for networking or security appliances. This has led it to develop an approach to searching that CEO Haim Koschitzky calls “augmented search”.

Augmented search combines machine semantic analytics on application log data with the context of a user’s search to provide layers of results that are organic and can be tagged and naturally filtered according to a user’s previous searches.

“You can create your own saved searches on the data, can tag those searches for later, and when other users search, you will be made aware that those searches coincide with the context of your search,” Koschitzky explained.

This is not only good for traditional system administrators but can also help DevOps continuously deploy new services, triage system anomalies and diagnose and address problems without necessarily being familiar with the contents of a log. The augmented search engine can be tailored to their needs and specific understanding.

This video provides a glimpse of augmented search in action:

XpoLog competes with Splunk, Inc. and several open source options, such as Graylog2. Koschitzky said XpoLog’s advantages are its augmented search, its flexible pricing plan and its interoperability with log management tools like Logstash.

XpoLog currently offers its log analytics software free for systems with 1GB per day or less of log data, and it has already handed out more than 500 free licenses. The free licenses have actually helped XpoLog crowd-source information about usage that ultimately improves the product, Koschitzky said.

Moving forward, XpoLog plans to strengthen its log analytic offerings and also build a cloud service.

“Our roadmap is really around how we help applications running on a variety of infrastructures in DevOps and production support using Hadoop,” Koschitzky said. “We have integration on collecting data sources from Hadoop and also for running the semantic analytical capabilities on the Hadoop logs.”

Does XpoLog have wherewithal to take on Splunk and other log analytic vendors? You can be the judge by downloading a trial version of the software or trying out the free license. It’s clear that the landscape for Big Data log analytics is now blooming with choices.

photo credit: Kris Krug via photopin cc