Understanding the event logs

The AMRepU output file contains the contents of both the System and the Application event logs. Both files are in comma-separated value (CSV) format. You can view these files in Microsoft Excel. If Excel does not recognize the comma as a column separator, then you have to make changes to your local region settings. The Sort and Filter options on the Data menu of Excel are very useful for analyzing trends.

The best practice is to review the server event logs on a regular basis—not only when troubleshooting problems, but even when the server is running well. Analyzing event logs from a server that is running well will give you experience with the different events. It will teach you which events are common so that you don’t have to spend time on them when analyzing event logs when problems occur.

If certain events are not clear to you, visit www.eventid.net. There you can search for additional event information and best practices based on the event source and the event ID.

The following topics describe the important events to review in the System and Application event logs.