Kiwi Syslog Daemon 7.1.4

Kiwi Enterprises' Kiwi Syslog Daemon 7.1.4 is a robust Syslog server for the Windows platform. The product lets you use a Windows-based computer to receive and process various system-event messages. I tested the licensed version, which offers additional features.

You can install Kiwi Syslog Daemon as a Windows service or run it as a standalone application. The product's extremely flexible rules let you direct Syslog events to text files, display them on screen, fire off email or SNMP alerts, display a Windows message, run an external program or script, or log events to a database. You can filter incoming Syslog event messages according to characteristics such as source IP address, host name, severity, or message content. The product provides real-time processing and output.

You can define filter fields such as Priority, IP Address, Hostname, Message Text, Time of Day, or Flags/Counters, and you can specify each field's type (e.g., simple string, regular expression). You can also customize which fields, delimiters, and qualifiers—including date and time formats—to include when logging to a text file or database.

Refined UI features can help you quickly scan incoming alerts. The product has a built-in SMTP engine that lets you email statistics or alerts to users when, for example, a minimum or maximum number of messages are received or when available hard-disk space becomes too low. Also useful are the program's multiple testing and debugging features, which let you test your filters and actions to ensure that the product is processing messages correctly.

—Jeff Fellinge