Greetings lizardnation,
I've done some research on the question you asked regarding
statistical software reporting for linux-based websites. While there
are literally dozens and dozens of tools such as this for the Windows
platform, finding *good* ones that support Linux was a bit more
difficult. Without knowing how much you planned to spend on the
software, I tried to find a range of products so that hopefully one of
them will fall within your budget. Note that most analysis software
packages work by simply analyzing the log files created by the
software used on the webserver. Some of them don't even require any
changes be made to the code of the pages or the settings on the server
itself.
I'd like to start with the one I feel is probably the best candidate
for the job, but it's also the most expensive out of the ones I will
list (priced @ $695.00). The name of the product is "Urchin 4". A
blurb from the Urchin website: "Urchin 4 is a web analytics software
system designed for end-user businesses and service providers of all
sizes. Urchin 4 is 100% web-based, extremely easy to install and
configure, and runs on a wide variety of Windows and UNIX-type
platforms. With the new Urchin Tracking Module, Urchin 4 is also the
world's most accurate web analytics system."
Configuration:
"No need to mess with your server configuration. Leery of changing the
configuration of Apache or IIS? No need with Urchin 4 -- it includes
its own server, so installation is successful every time. And it won't
interfere with your existing server (runs on a different port, which
you can adjust)."
Urchin uses what they call the "Urchin Tracking Module (UTM)" to track
detailed stats on your visitors. The UTM just requires a tiny 1x1
pixel image and a very small piece of JavaScript, which can be easily
added to a server-side include file (or any other HTML file). It
captures all navigation and can see through proxying and caching. The
UTM uses a first-party cookie (between your site and the visitor
only). When normal server access log data is combined with UTM data
(also stored in the log), you get unprecedented accuracy and reporting
depth. No Page-Loading Slowdown. "Web bugs" that use images resident
on other servers can significantly slow down the loading of your
website, irritating visitors and possibly costing you sales. Won't
happen with Urchin, since everything comes from your server.
Regarding performance:
"Small Data Footprint. Urchin 4's Visitor Interaction Data
Architecture (VIDA™) is highly optimized for the type of data Urchin 4
uses. Far more efficient than a general-purpose database, it's also
much faster. Urchin 4's interface server is ultra-fast and won't
significantly impact the computer it's running on. Of course, if
desired, it can be installed on a dedicated reporting server for
maximum performance."
They have much more information available on their website along with
a full tour of the product with sample reports. They also offer a free
trial demo of the product I recommend checking out.
The next product I found is called "Sawmill". Sawmill is quite a bit
cheaper, coming in at only $99 for individuals or $199 for a 5-user
license. A blurb from their website: "Sawmill is a powerful,
hierarchical log analysis tool that runs on every major platform. It
is particularly well suited to web server logs, but can process almost
any log. The reports that Sawmill generates are hierarchical,
attractive, and heavily cross-linked for easy navigation."
Sawmill seems to support a very large number of log formats and looks
to have a very good filtering technology (something you mentioned in
your question). It also runs as it's own webserver or as a CGI script
within your website. They have a very extensive FAQ and more details
with sample reports on their website. They too have a 30-day free
trial of the software.
The last product I found is called "eIQ LogAnalyzer for Linux". This
product I'm not real sure about as their website still lists it for
sale ($399.00), but they don't actually show detailed information on
the Linux version from their products page - only the Windows version.
So, I'm not sure if the feature-set is identical so they didn't list
it, or if maybe they're dropping support for the product. It seems
that they would stop selling the product if that was the case,
however. This product (according to the Windows version) seems to have
most of the standard features listed in other reporting packages. I
would probably contact them to determine if they still support the
Linux version before purchasing it.
Of course, you could always go with the big boy of the web reporting
world, WebTrends by NetIQ. They have several suites of products that
will break down everything for you and they work on cross platforms.
However, they are the market leader and command the highest price -
you can easily expect to spend in the range of thousands of dollars
for their products.
I hope this helps to answer your question. I've provided links to all
of the sites I've mentioned above at the end of this answer. Please do
not hesitate to ask for clarification if you need further assistance
on this question as I'll be happy to conduct further research if
necessary. Thanks!
Sincerely,
PWizard
Urchin 4
http://www.urchin.com/products/index.html
Sawmill
http://www.sawmill.net/
eIQ Networks
http://www.eiqnetworks.com/default.htm
eIQ Networks - Purchase Page for LINUX Version
http://www.digitalriver.com/dr/v2/ec_Main.Entry?SP=10007&SID=36915&CID=0&CUR=840&DSP=0&CACHE_ID=0
WebTrends by NetIQ
http://www.netiq.com/webtrends/default.asp
Google Searchwords Used:
web analysis reporting software linux |
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