Logs are text files that collect information specific to the events they are monitoring. If you were looking at security events, then the "security log" (such as the Windows Server Security Log) would record important events related to security.

Access logs collect records of every access to your site. Other logs that are routinely generated, such as those that record errors in our Apache environment, would be located in the file named error_log.

The log file can provide a very accurate representation of the activity of your site, assuming it has not been attacked, altered, erased, or otherwise changed. Hence, proper management includes making frequent copies of the logs. They need to be reviewed, removed, and stored (for a certain period of time) in case they are needed.

Log files are written (often) in text format so you do not need anything special to read them other than say, notepad from your desktop. Of course, there are a myriad of Linux and Unix tools to...