What is our primary use case?
I am considered an expert in
Elastic Observability in the Middle East. During my experience, I have worked heavily on
Logstash. As the official distributor for Elastic in the Middle East, I have integrated
Logstash with various systems.
What is most valuable?
Logstash is a free tool, and Elastic has no plan to commercialize it. Logstash has numerous plugins for inputs and outputs, allowing it to work well in environments that do not contain other Elastic components. It can be resilient, forming a cluster to ensure no data loss with appropriate data queues. Logstash works smoothly with many ecosystems and can integrate with other data sources, even allowing for custom scripting. It plays a significant role as a proxy in air-gapped environments, and it can scale to accommodate increased data influx.
What needs improvement?
Logstash lacks a graphical user interface, necessitating a strong programming background to handle it effectively. It is challenging for business users who need a skilled team for its operation. Changing pipelines is not easy because Logstash requires pipelines to be programmed and cannot just be dragged and dropped like other data solutions. Additionally, Logstash does not automatically make actions based on the data it receives; integrating automation tools is required.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have seven years of experience working with Logstash.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
Logstash's concept is straightforward, but there is a learning curve to mastering it. Beginners will often make mistakes and struggle without troubleshooting tools. The documentation is highly technical.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Logstash has stability problems sometimes. I would rate its stability as a seven out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Logstash can be designed to be resilient and scalable, accommodating more data influx due to its ability to form a cluster with appropriate data queues.
How are customer service and support?
Elastic does not provide proper support for Logstash worldwide, and I rate their technical support as one out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
How was the initial setup?
While the initial concept of Logstash is straightforward, learning to use it effectively involves a significant learning curve and a high level of technical understanding.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Logstash is a free tool, and Elastic has no plan to commercialize it.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend Logstash to DevOps engineers but not to other audiences like decision-makers, business people, IT managers, or developers due to its technical complexity. I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
*Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller
