01/30/2023 | News release | Distributed by Public on 01/30/2023 11:32
Machine data, also known as machine-generated data, is information created automatically by software without any manual work required by a person. The data is often, but not always, about humans. Of course, in most instances a human made the strategic decision to have machine data created and in what format - but there is no human-in-the-loop at the point when the data is created and recorded. This blog post will explore what machine data is, how it's used, common examples of machine data, why it's important and more.
Machine data is data generated by all the systems running in data centers, the "internet of things", and the new world of connected devices. It's all of the data generated by the applications, servers, network devices, security devices and remote infrastructure that power your organization.
Machine data contains a definitive record of all activity and behavior of your customers, users, transactions, applications, servers, networks, factory machinery, and so on. And it's more than just logs. It's configuration data, data from APIs and message queues, change events, the output of diagnostic commands and call detail records, sensor data from remote equipment, and more.
There are thousands of distinct machine data formats. Analyzing these in a meaningful way is critical to diagnosing service problems, detecting sophisticated security threats, understanding the health of remote equipment and demonstrating compliance.
There is an endless, ever-growing list of machine-generated data that impacts our lives in countless ways. We've gathered here some of the more common examples of machine data. Remember, this list is just the starting point. Every environment has its unique footprint of machine data.
Generally, all "smart" devices produce machine data. Machine data is the key component that enables a device to become "smart". Take the common household thermostat for example.
A traditional thermostat produces data - but not machine data. A traditional thermostat can determine the current temperature of a room, display that data to a human viewing the device, and turn the AC/Heat on or off in accordance with the current temperature data. However, the details are not being stored on the device in memory or transmitted to the cloud or other storage device. There is no record of what the temperature was at a particular time, or how frequently the AC/Heat turned on or off, or how many times a human adjusted the desired temperature on the device.
A smart thermostat produces the same data as the traditional thermostat, while also generating machine data. The machine data could include:
This type of data alone can provide enough information for an algorithm to begin making suggestions or optimal running conditions. Combined with data (machine or otherwise) derived from other sources - such as outside temperature at the unit's geographic location - the device can truly become smart enough to predict what the desired setting will be. A smart device can begin to recognize patterns of behavior that its human owners might not have fully been aware of and adjust its routine accordingly to better meet the desired result of the human.
Another good example is the common alarm clock. A traditional analog (or even digital) alarm clock does not normally produce machine data because it has no internet connectivity or memory for storing data. Its function is simply to keep time and have the alarm go off at the point in time most recently specified by a person. Adding in machine data can enable a "smart" alarm clock that could track the patterns of usage - for example, noting that every Monday-Friday, the alarm clock is set to go off at 6AM, while on weekends it is set to go off at 7AM. Logging of the settings and activity creates a dataset that can be used to detect patterns and predict future desired behaviors.
Transcript:
Machine data is everywhere, intersecting with our lives and businesses in ways that change our lives for the better. Take an average day of the average Joe. Joe is cool. He orders a taxi from an app on his smartphone, and it arrives in minutes. The taxi's location is visible on his phone the whole time. He uses that same phone to adjust his online budget, subtracting the money he just spent on the taxi. He takes taxis a lot. It may not be surprising your phone is generating data. But here's where machine generated data gets interesting. In the car, data is generated that insurance companies can use to get discounts for safe driving. Or help you improve driving habits and fuel efficiency by measuring braking and acceleration. That may help Joe's driver but he has other machine data fish to fry. His health monitoring device is aware of his lousy commute, spending an hour in the taxi on his butt on the way to the office and is logging that data into his fitness profile in the cloud.
Stoplights and toll booths, the taxi goes through, can send data to transportation planners to better route traffic and keep congestion and fuel consumption down. He finally gets to the office and his security badge gets him in the building, letting his company know that even with his lousy commute he got to work an hour early. Joe decides to take the elevator to his office on the 34th floor. The elevator is collecting data on how many times it stops on his floor to give the owner of the building insights into how likely the company will be to renew its lease. Once he's in the office, his smart thermostat detects when he's arrived and knows his temperature preferences and sets the temperature to 72.
Joe is a spontaneous kind of guy so he books a last minute trip to Hawaii for the weekend. His favorite travel site is down but worker bees are in the background crunching all the machine data that will get the server error keeping his booking at bay. Fixed. Just a minute later, Joe is off on his trip to the beach, the plane is a flying data center basically. Every bit of data is being collected - from engines and turbines to temperature and speed. And that makes for a safe journey for Joe who by now is on the beach and not so average.
 
This posting does not necessarily represent Splunk's position, strategies or opinion.