Graylog and Datadog are two technologies for monitoring your infrastructure that is currently accessible. Functionally, these two tools are not identical, but there is considerable overlap between their services. This post will explain the similarities and differences between these tools so that you may make educated purchasing selections.

A network monitoring solution is any software or hardware that allows you to monitor the metrics of your network. These include information regarding the health and operation of your networks, such as network traffic, data use, and uptime.

Tracking these indicators is essential for success in today’s environment, which is increasingly driven by technology. Keeping track of all of this manually is nearly impossible for a tiny company. It is almost difficult to manually track all of these exponentially expanding indicators as your firm expands, therefore you must begin to use shortcuts. The majority of firms utilize a network monitoring tool as a result.

This is much more critical for major corporations and industries. Simple problems, such as improper data handling or the loss of a log collection, can develop into significant concerns. In the meanwhile, major issues like hacks and data breaches emerge. Instead of attempting to keep all of this under control manually, businesses will almost always use a network monitoring tool.

Graylog

Graylog is a log management solution developed for handling current log analytics. This centralized logging system collects and saves logs from many sources, allowing you to analyze them in real time and get valuable insights. In doing so, it liberates the data and insights required to capitalize on opportunities and avoid risks.

When the server gets these log messages, it converts them to a standard format and stores them in a database. The system maintains a file directory structure that makes it simple to identify specified periods. Log files inside each directory are rotated by date.

Log files must be merged into a common format so that communications from many sources and utilizing various message format standards may be combined into a single data lake. In addition, using the information received from each component of the system, analytical tools may be developed to display network events from each component. This is essential for generating reports on resource consumption tracking and security monitoring analyzers.

Graylog incorporates a customizable dashboard. In addition, the interface provides a query builder. You may generate and save queries to generate output for your dashboard. Then, connect the result of a query to a widget and configure that query to run continually, and you will have a system monitor.

Datadog

Datadog is an all-encompassing monitoring tool that monitors the performance of your cloud resources, servers, networks, and other devices. This SaaS application aggregates measurements from many devices analyzes them and delivers alarms in the event of significant discrepancies. In addition, it includes a multitude of other services for observability, such as extensive log management, synthetic monitoring, user experience monitoring, and security monitoring, among others.

Datadog also creates a variety of auditing, decision-making, and compliance-related reports. The ability to view all the information you require through a single dashboard dramatically reduces the time and effort required to comprehend a scenario or issue.

Log files are saved on the Datadog server, and the cost of a Datadog membership includes space for them. You may also select to transmit log files to a storage account on Amazon S3 or Microsoft Azure. Then, they may be remembered for use in dashboard searches and analyses.

The Datadog Log Management system may receive log messages from databases, containers, operating systems, and Windows software from Windows Events, Linux, and Syslog messages.

Now that you have an understanding of what Graylog and Datadog are, let’s compare the two systems in depth.

Detailed Contrast

Log Management

Graylog’s primary strength is in its capacity to manage logs, so let’s get started there. It is without a doubt one of the most useful tools in this industry since it compiles logs from a variety of different sources and presents them in the form of aesthetically pleasing images and graphs. In addition to this, it can decide which logs are more vital than others, enabling you to concentrate on the most important ones. In addition to that, it will alert you to any differences that have been found.

Moving on to Datadog, this tool likewise features advanced capabilities for managing logs. Similar to Graylog, Datadog compiles logs from a variety of sources and displays them in formats that are simple to understand.

Log Collection

Graylog and Datadog both collect logging messages from a comprehensive range of different technologies. Both have extremely similar inputs as an essential list, which may be expanded further by adding on integration to get logs from certain apps. The inputs are fairly similar because both use essential lists.

This flexibility is fantastic for those system administrators who want to experiment, but for others who expect an out-of-the-box solution, it can be time-consuming and difficult. System administrators who prefer to tinker will benefit greatly from this flexibility.

You can submit log messages to the log management server using any of the following services, regardless of the system you’re using:

• Rsyslog
• Syslog-NG
• NXLog
• FluentD
• Logstash
• Winlogbeat
• Filebeat

Datadog also has its native data collectors that are used for its monitoring systems. These data collectors can communicate the information that they have gathered to the log management server so that it may be included. Reports generated by SNMP and NetFlow are examples of this category of data. Graylog is also capable of taking data from these other sources.

Both Graylog and Datadog have log collection agent compatibility that is virtually entirely equivalent to one another. Both can gather log messages from several operating systems, including Windows, Linux, macOS, and Unix.

User Interface

Graylog and Datadog both have user interfaces that are well organized and currently appearing. At first glance, it would look as though these two instruments are competing with each other in a very heated fashion. Customers have nonetheless mentioned that the user interface of Graylog could use improvement, and I agree.

While acceptable, things like the main navigation menu and configuration settings could be made more intuitive. On the other hand, using Datadog is not difficult at all. The user interface is not just modern but also really well thought out and easy to navigate.

Network Surveillance

Graylog, when combined with other auxiliary tools like Grafana, has the potential to develop a network monitoring tool that is easily accessible. The problem is that Datadog is far more advanced in this respect. However, if you have the necessary funds, the open-source version of Graylog in conjunction with one of these tools could be suitable for smaller enterprises.

Implementation Flexibility

Datadog solely supports cloud deployment and does not offer on-premises or hybrid options. This is a SaaS service accessible from any web browser.

The same applies to Graylog Cloud. Graylog, however, offers two variants that may be utilized for on-premises deployment: Enterprise and open-source. However, you can only directly utilize Graylog if you have Ubuntu or CentOS Linux installations. For different operating systems, including Windows, Docker containers are available.

Cost

If cost is a major factor, the open-source version of Graylog performs admirably as a log management application. However, it is very weak in terms of network monitoring. The Graylog business version is often less expensive than the Datadog APM. However, Datadog outperforms Graylog in most areas before this grade, so if you’re willing to pay, Datadog is the superior option.

Conclusion

Integration Integrations aid in extending a platform’s capabilities and aid developers in “fitting” the platform into their current infrastructure. Graylog stores logs in MongoDB, but Datadog stores logs in Apache Kafka. This is a significant distinction.

In terms of interactions with third-party tools, Datadog is more comprehensive, integrating with prominent alternatives like GitHub, GrowthSimple, Mendix, and Fairwinds Insights. Graylog is not compatible with any of these applications. Datadog interacts with about 170 additional tools than Graylog’s 16. Choose Datadog if you wish to connect log management capabilities with other products and your infrastructure.

Graylog is the best solution if you do not have an entirely cloud-based setup. However, if you have a cloud environment, Datadog is unquestionably the superior option because of its extensive capabilities that ease logging and display. A feature is the user interface and the numerous customization options available.

Similarly, if you subscribe to several cloud services and tools and need consolidated log management and network monitoring system that encompasses all of these products, Datadog is your best option.

Another distinction is Datadog’s network monitoring capabilities. If you’re wanting to monitor the performance of various network devices and endpoints, Datadog is your solution.