Google drops a log into its cloud. A log analyser, that is

Chocolate Factory is catching up with cloudy confrères

Google's decided its Compute Engine and App Engine users need to know if their cloudy rigs are full of … bugs, by dropping a log (analyser) into the cloud.

The new Google Cloud Logging beta collects Compute Engine and App Engine logs and lets users perform the following tricks:

• Ingest and view the log data, so that you can see all your logs in one place
• Search the log data in real-time, so that you can resolve operational issues
• Analyze the log data in real-time, so that you can glean actionable insights
• Archive logs data for longer periods, to meet backup and compliance requirements

Cloud Logging is free, but as usual in the cloud it also introduces the chance for users to pay for more stuff. In this case, Google says you'll pay to store your logs in its cloud and if you chose to use BigQuery to analyse the logs there'll be a bill for that too.

Google's a bit behind on logging aggregation and analysis. AWS' CloudTrail has been around for a while now and there are also numerous third party tools to do the job. Azure's Event Hubs and other features, plus third-party tools, mean Microsoft is in the market too. The arrival of Cloud Logging is therefore another example of Google catching up with its rivals. Of course the ad giant can also leapfrog them, as shown by the recent arrival of its Nearline cloud storage. ®