A firewall is a network security device or software that is used to monitor and control incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules. Firewall Logs contain valuable information about network and security events. These logs are essential for security and infrastructure monitoring for enterprises. While this data is critical to securing enterprise networks, they are also one of the most voluminous data types security teams use to monitor and secure their networks.

In today's digital landscape, Observability and telemetry data play a crucial role in ensuring the performance, reliability, and security of modern applications and services. However, as data volumes explode due to the proliferation of micro-services, cloud-based applications, and connected devices, existing architectures are hitting a scalability wall.

Log management costs are growing, and it's a concern for companies, users, and developers trying to scale their organizations in today’s macro environment. Companies are making investments in systems that collect data from the cloud, applications, and infrastructure in order to monitor their performance and security. The amount of machine data generated every day is skyrocketing as businesses digitize and automate operations.

As cloud deployments scale, Amazon Web Services (AWS) VPC flow logs become an invaluable network visibility and security tool. They are also one of the most voluminous classes of data, making them an expensive choice to add to analytics platforms. With growing infrastructure and traffic, managing these logs presents significant challenges. ‍In part 1 of this series, we took a look at common use cases and problems associated with storing and processing VPC Flow Logs.