Chapter 12. Logging and Monitoring

Web applications are expected to operate without constant supervision. They run on servers sitting in darkened rooms where the presence of people is occasional at most. Therefore, from an operational standpoint, Web applications need a way to let the outside world know how they’re doing. What kinds of requests are being processed? What types of errors are being encountered? Moreover, along with simply detecting these conditions, the Web application needs to be able to pass this information along, whether it’s in the form of a log file for later review or on a real-time monitor. This chapter discusses the techniques that allow Web applications to meet this very important operational requirement.

Exam objectives in this chapter: