Our management would like to know how people are using our website, which we host on our Windows 2003 Server using IIS. Since none of us are really system administrators, we don't know how to go about getting the information out of wherever IIS, or the system, logs it. Is it kept just in the event logs, or is it some where else?
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In order to use server logs for analytics then first you have to have logging enabled in IIS and that is done in IIS Mgr on the properties of the web site. Right-click on the web site, choose Properties and it's on the General tab.
The data is kept in log files usually (and by default), but it's also possible to log to a database. If you log to files then by default they're in c:\windows\system32\inetsrv, but your configuration will tell you where they are located on a site by site basis.
You'll need to get a web analytics package to efficiently analyze your log data. Wikipedia lists some decent ones. If your site is public facing then go with Google Analytics. Webtrends has powerful packages and is not listed on that Wikipedia page.
squillman
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If we choose to log to a database, does it set the database up? Or do we have to? And if we have to, what's the database schema? – Rod Jul 06 '10 at 14:17
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@rod you have to set the database up. It's a single table with columns that are the log fields. You might limit yourself with analytic package choices if you log to a Dhaka, though. Make sure the one you want to use supports SB logs or else you'll have to export the data to flat files. – squillman Jul 06 '10 at 17:27
