The Usage Log

All HTTP services provide a log. The IIS is no exception. The log provides many different functions. Among them is the ability to track the usage of your pages for marketing purposes. This enables you to know whether you are providing the kinds of information and services that your market wants. There are several formats for HTTP logs, and they all are similar in structure. Figure 6.8 shows an example of the IIS log. The file is basically a comma-separated text file of 15 columns. The differences come from what is in each column. If you put in the results of other HTTP server log files, they would be practically indistinguishable from one another.