A new version of Loki was released back in November, and I’m here to talk about one of its most exciting features. Loki 2.4 finally removed the requirement that all data must be ingested in timestamp-ascending order. Instead, Loki now allows out of order logs up to a configurable validity window (more to come on that). In this post, I’ll walk through what all this means and why we’re thrilled about it.

If you think log files are only necessary for satisfying audit and compliance requirements, or to help software engineers debug issues during development, you’re certainly not alone. Although log files may not sound like the most engaging or valuable assets, for many organizations, they are an untapped reservoir of insights that can offer significant benefits to your business.

I can’t remember the last time I drove down highway 101 between San Francisco and the South Bay and didn’t see a billboard claiming to be the single tool to solve all of my data problems.