Centralized Read Access Logging via Configuration Hooks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems face complexity and performance degradation due to the lack of centralized logging for read-access events across multiple applications, leading to incomplete logs and increased maintenance costs, especially in large systems that handle sensitive data.
Innovation Solution
A centralized system that uses a log configuration file and read-access hooks to observe and log relevant data access events, minimizing database operations and allowing real-time policy changes without modifying applications, and a two-step logging process for efficient data consolidation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If each application performs logging independently, then logging coverage is improved, but system complexity increases and maintenance becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges logging functionality from multiple distributed applications into a single centralized logging service. This service receives log data from various applications through standardized interfaces and maintains unified logging policies, thereby improving logging coverage while reducing system complexity by eliminating redundant logging logic across applications.
Solution Approach 2:
The centralized logging service provides universal logging capabilities that can serve multiple different applications through common interfaces. This multi-functional approach allows the same logging infrastructure to handle diverse logging requirements across applications, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining comprehensive logging coverage.
2Reliability
If logging is implemented in each application, then read-access events can be tracked, but system performance degrades due to additional database transactions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts logging operations from individual applications and relocates them to a centralized logging service. This extraction eliminates the performance overhead of logging from application transaction paths, as logging now occurs in a separate service that can be optimized independently. The applications only need to send log data through lightweight interfaces, maintaining read-access tracking while preserving system performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The centralized logging service acts as an intermediary between applications and the logging infrastructure. Applications communicate log data through standardized interfaces rather than directly performing database transactions for logging. This intermediary layer buffers and manages logging operations, reducing the performance impact on applications while ensuring comprehensive read-access event tracking.
3Adaptability or versatility
If logging policies are distributed across applications, then each application can enforce its own rules, but policy changes become difficult to implement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional distributed policy enforcement model by centralizing policy management in a single logging service. Instead of each application maintaining its own logging policies, the centralized service maintains unified policies that apply to all applications. This inversion makes policy changes easy to implement by modifying the centralized service, while still providing adaptable policy enforcement through standardized interfaces that can accommodate different application requirements.
4Reliability
If comprehensive logging is implemented across all applications, then complete audit trails are achieved, but maintenance costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines maintenance responsibilities for logging infrastructure into a single centralized service. This consolidation means that updates, security patches, and infrastructure maintenance are performed in one location rather than across multiple applications, significantly reducing maintenance costs while maintaining complete audit trails through the unified logging service that receives data from all applications.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are disclosed for creating a read-access log. A business application may send a request for data to a backend system using a communication protocol. At the backend system, the request may be observed and a determination made as to whether the request for data is log-relevant. The determination may be based on a log configuration record associated with the business application making the request. A record may be written in a read-access log when it is determined that the request for data is log-relevant. The log record may include information used to map entity information from the retrieved data to a semantic entity.