The Docker ecosystem is getting bigger. Data analytics and log management vendor Logentries has introduced a logging tool for containers hosted on the open source containerized virtualization platform.

Christopher Tozzi, Contributing Editor

February 12, 2015

2 Min Read
Logentries Taps Docker Ecosystem with Logging Container

The Docker ecosystem is getting bigger. Data analytics and log management vendor Logentries has introduced a logging tool for containers hosted on the open source containerized virtualization platform.

The company’s new tool is itself a Docker container. Using Docker’s Stats API, the software collects and logs data on the Docker environment, as well as specific containers. It can keep track of things like how much CPU time, memory and network bandwidth a Docker app is using.

Logentries says the offering addresses a key need in the Docker ecosystem that has not previously been met. “Historically there has been little native logging support for collecting logs from containers, especially at large scale, limiting users’ ability to monitor and troubleshoot their production environments,” the company said in a statement about the release.

“The new Docker Stats API is a big step forward in enabling customers to collect important information about their Docker containers and the apps running on them,” said Trevor Parsons, co-founder and chief scientist, Logentries. “With the Logentries new logging container, users can easily capture this data, correlate it with other important system metrics, giving much required visibility into production Docker environments.”

As one of the first logging solutions designed specifically for Docker, and with the added benefit of being as simple to deploy as any other Docker container, Logentries’s new tool no doubt will have appeal within the Docker community. The fact that Logentries’s own API is open is an added bonus for organizations that choose Docker because of its open source licensing.

The bigger question, however, will be whether the Logentries container delivers more power than Docker’s native tools, including its Stats API, can provide. That’s something to watch because Docker, to a much greater extent than most other open source projects, so far has taken a do-it-yourself approach to building a complete ecosystem by implementing many features on its own, rather than relying on third-party developers or partners. Yet given that to date Docker has not done anything to address logging specifically, Logentries may have found a niche where it can add real value.

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About the Author(s)

Christopher Tozzi

Contributing Editor

Christopher Tozzi started covering the channel for The VAR Guy on a freelance basis in 2008, with an emphasis on open source, Linux, virtualization, SDN, containers, data storage and related topics. He also teaches history at a major university in Washington, D.C. He occasionally combines these interests by writing about the history of software. His book on this topic, “For Fun and Profit: A History of the Free and Open Source Software Revolution,” is forthcoming with MIT Press.

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