• The type of message written - e.g. error, warning
• The Event IDs 
• The application or system writing the error
• Configurable keywords or phrases - e.g. text within the message, source etc.

Why Monitor the Event Logs ?
 
On Windows server machines, the Event Log is the central logging mechanism for the O/S as well as many of the applications and services that run on it. This approach is ideally suited to machines where no one is directly logged on (and therefore cannot respond to standard message-box alerts). However, it's main drawback is that each server has it's own set of logs. Monitoring a number of logs using the standard tools provided can be extremely time consuming and is typically only done infrequently throughout the week or after an error has already been reported by end-users. A better approach is to automate the monitoring process and be informed immediately an error occurs. 
 
With Sentry-go Quick Server Monitors, Event Logs can easily and automatically be monitored based either on message type or the message text itself using configurable keywords and phrases. 

Why Monitor the Log Files ?
 
Although the standard error reporting mechanism on Windows servers is typically the Event Log system, there are times when applications need or prefer to use their own text-based log files. These may be standard applications like Internet Information Services (IIS) - which records  HTTP errors to it's own log file, SQL Server or a 3rd party or in-house system. Despite not being in the Event Log, it is often very important to be aware of errors written to these files - e.g. to determine web-based errors being experienced by your customers. 
  
Again, with Sentry-go this is easy to achieve automatically.