With its horizontally scalable architecture, GEL, like Loki, the OS project on which it is based, simplifies and automates long-term storage and querying of logs. Users can easily store and query terabytes of logs in one centralized cluster without needing a dedicated operations team. Furthermore, they can do so cost effectively. With a design architected around object storage and minimalist indexing, GEL allows companies to say goodbye to the days of imposing quotas on what developers could ingest. Logs can now be made available to everyone who needs them without breaking the bank.

While it's wonderful to enable more teams to log, Enterprises must be careful to control access to confidential information that might be contained inside. Fortunately, Grafana Enterprise Logs was built for just this purpose. Its secure-by-default design includes both a scriptable REST API and a built-in Grafana interface to make it easy for admins to manage tenants, access policies, and token generation. These features ensure that users and groups are set to view only the logs they should have access to.

Logs stored in GEL are queried via LogQL, a flexible, powerful query language that is syntactically similar to Prometheus' PromQL. This means that teams familiar with Prometheus don't have to learn a whole new query language. Even better, because GEL uses the same label model as Prometheus, teams can quickly jump between metrics and logs, rather than wasting time context switching.