The use of a centralized log server has often been highlighted in many of today’s security best practices. The constant need to collect, retain and protect these sensitive security event log files sometimes overwhelm security and systems administrators, especially in large corporate environments. When properly configured, security event logs are used to track user activity and access on specific systems or objects, and is a key element when tying to piece up the chain of events leading to a security incident. Many security administrators might know how cumbersome it is to manage such security event log files, and sometimes seek third party vendors to help them manage their security log files. The truth is that many of these problems can be solved using native features of your server operating system.