Your Server Logs Are Screaming at You. Are You Listening?
Most sysadmins treat /var/log/httpd/access_log like a dusty attic—they dump data into it and never look inside until the disk hits 100% usage. In a production environment, this is negligence. While marketing teams obsess over Google Analytics, those client-side JavaScript tags miss the reality of your infrastructure: hotlinking thieves, aggressive search bots, and script kiddies probing for SQL injections.
To truly understand your traffic profile, you need server-side analysis. In 2011, AWStats (Advanced Web Statistics) remains the gold standard for parsing raw server logs into actionable intelligence. But deploying it on a high-traffic node isn't just about apt-get install. It’s about managing I/O wait times and respecting the increasingly strict privacy climate here in Norway.
The Architecture of Log Analysis
AWStats works by parsing your web server logs (Apache Combined format or Nginx). It’s a Perl script, which means it eats CPU for breakfast and demands high disk I/O throughput. If you run this on a budget container with oversold resources, your site will lag while the stats update.
Here is the battle-tested configuration for a CentOS 5 or 6 box running Apache 2.2:
# Install via EPEL repository
yum install awstats
# Edit /etc/awstats/awstats.yourdomain.conf
LogFile="/var/log/httpd/access_log"
LogType=W
LogFormat=1
SiteDomain="yourdomain.com"
DNSLookup=1
The I/O Bottleneck
When AWStats parses a 2GB log file, it reads thousands of lines per second. On a traditional 7200 RPM SATA drive, this causes the dreaded iowait spike. Your CPU sits idle, waiting for the disk to spin, while your Apache processes pile up.
Pro Tip: Never run the update process during peak hours. Configure your cron job for 03:00 AM Oslo time. If you are hosting on CoolVDS, our enterprise SSD storage arrays (a massive upgrade over standard SATA) handle this random read I/O significantly better, reducing parse times from minutes to seconds.
Privacy: The Norwegian Context (Datatilsynet)
We operate in Norway, not the Wild West. The Norwegian Data Inspectorate (Datatilsynet) and the Personal Data Act (Personopplysningsloven) are clear: IP addresses can be considered personal data. Storing full IP logs indefinitely is a liability.
For a compliant setup, you should anonymize IP addresses in your reports if you don't have a specific technical need to trace them. In awstats.conf, you can use the AllowToUpdateStatsFromBrowser directive carefully, but more importantly, consider a plugin to hash the last octet of the IP address before storage.
Handling Nginx Logs
Nginx is rapidly replacing Apache for static content serving (currently version 1.0.x). Nginx logs are slightly different. Ensure your nginx.conf defines a compatible format:
log_format main '$remote_addr - $remote_user [$time_local] "$request" '
'$status $body_bytes_sent "$http_referer" '
'"$http_user_agent" "$http_x_forwarded_for"';
Then, point AWStats to the Nginx log. Be aware that log rotation (logrotate) can cause race conditions where AWStats tries to read a file that just got gzipped. Always add a prerotate script in /etc/logrotate.d/nginx to trigger the stats update before the logs rotate.
Why Infrastructure Matters
You can optimize your Perl scripts all day, but you cannot code your way out of bad hardware. Log analysis is disk-intensive. Virtualization platforms like OpenVZ often suffer from "noisy neighbors"—if another user on the host node is churning through a database, your disk reads stall.
This is why we architect CoolVDS on KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine). It provides better isolation. When you reserve RAM and disk I/O, it's actually yours. For tasks like log parsing, which are bursty by nature, having consistent throughput is non-negotiable.
Comparison: Standard HDD vs. CoolVDS SSD
| Metric | Standard VPS (SATA) | CoolVDS (Enterprise SSD) |
|---|---|---|
| Random Read IOPS | ~75-100 | ~10,000+ |
| Log Parse Time (1GB) | ~4 minutes | ~45 seconds |
| System Load | High (I/O Wait) | Low |
The Verdict
Information is power, but only if you can process it efficiently. By configuring AWStats correctly, securing user data according to Norwegian standards, and running on hardware that doesn't choke on I/O, you turn your logs from waste into assets.
Ready to crunch data without the lag? Stop fighting with slow disks. Spin up a VPS Norway instance on CoolVDS today and experience the difference low latency and proper managed hosting support make for your stack.