In a data lake you will find also machine data from server logs, networking equipment, telecommunications equipment, and lots of different kinds of sensors.

FORBES: Kill Your Data Warehouse

When Splunk is used in the data center, many different collections of server logs, network logs, or other machine generated data are indexed so that the data can be searched and distilled.

FORBES: Splunk's Godfrey Sullivan on Overcoming Barriers to Operational Intelligence

Web server logs can tell which URLs are resulting in 404s but it can also show in real time which items are going into online shopping carts, which items are being purchased, and which are being abandoned.

FORBES: Splunk's Godfrey Sullivan on Overcoming Barriers to Operational Intelligence

Reports have been circulating that devices running Android 4.2, rumored to be code-named Key Lime Pie (though it's seeming more likely that it will retain the Jelly Bean moniker), have been popping up in server logs and benchmarks across the web.

ENGADGET: blogger-avatar

Consider storing logs from a web server.

FORBES: What You Need to Know About NoSQL Databases

Schmidt said the intruder was "sloppy" in his work and failed to destroy all the logs monitoring activity on the server.

CNN: Graphic