Awstats vs. Webalizer vs. Analog

My hosting company offers all of these (ans some more extra stats such as error logs: Awstats, Webalizer and Analog, which one is the most accurate and: how do I filter unique visitors from the analog one? It only seems to show requests in general...

My Awstats show a more traffic than Webalizer... which one to trust most? Or is the truth somewhere in between .

 

I use both AWstats and Webalizer

 

I look at aws, webalizer, rawlogs and a couple filtered versions of the logs...recent visits etc. I'm assuming Analog is a type of raw log...I don't know. And there are others with a billion times more server experience than me, so take this with a grain of salt.

Anyway, my understanding is that any log anlaysis tool is going to be innacurate in it's own unique way. It's up to you to choose which one you like the best. There is a lot in a log that is open to interpretation, as in what constitutes a unique visit. And the analyzer makers don't exactly spell out their proprietary methods. Bots and types of ueseless requests are rejected according to each tools list.

I prefer AWS since I can get around and see trends pretty quickly. And as long as you stay with one tool you will be comparing apples to apples.

Another host uses webalizer only...slows me down a little, but since I'm forced to use it only, I get an accurate view of trends.

When looking at problems I may open the raw log file usually control f is all I need there ...on a rare occassion I'll download it and play with it in a database.

To figure out uniques on your own would be quite a bit of work I would think, excluding things and setting condidtions. Unless you have very specific needs, I'd pick the tool that feels good and not worry about the difference.

 

I think I need to find a more humble voice for when I post here. I play expert all day with plants and I get into disseminating mode!

I'm sure there some ways to look at stats that I'm completely ignorant about.

 

Well, it's not a crucial thing but I'm just curious what is more accurate, the lower stats in webalizer or the better ones in awstats , awstats shows more search phrases as well, guess I just look into both from time to time, they both show interesting info

 

ive always used awstats, dunno if they are most accurate but they have been my fav.

 

I think it is a preference, and my preference is webalizer.