Should I turn off IIS 6 logging?

Question

What are some reasons why I wouldn't want to disable IIS logging completely for a small use (100 user) intranet application?

I'm not an Ops person (just pretending to be one for this app), so I've never had to be concerned with this stuff before.

Answer 1

1. Logs help you troubleshoot and diagnose problems quicker. This could save you hours in the event of a problem with your network.

2. Logs help you identify any privilege escalation that should not be occurring (users accessing stuff they shouldn't).

3. Logs can be used in conjunction with log parsers to identify trouble spots on your network.

Answer 2

You can always turn them off, but then you'll have to turn them on when trying to debug. The downside to this is if the problem you are trying to debug is intermittent, you might have a hard time knowing when to turn on/off the logging.

I would leave logging on and set to "IIS Logging". Your log files won't be as detailed, but at least you will be able to see a "history" of any problem you need to debug.

Answer 3

Logs are one of those things that you don't care about until you need them. And by that point it's too late to go back in time and turn them on again.

Just leave it on and institute a clean up policy to archive / delete logs older than a certain time period.