Updated March 6, 2023
Difference between CloudTrail vs CloudWatch
AWS CloudWatch is a monitoring solution for Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud resources and the applications we run there. We may use Amazon CloudWatch to gather and monitor metrics, log files, trigger alarms, and automatically react to changes in AWS resources, among other things. AWS CloudTrail is a service that allows managing an AWS account’s governance, compliance, operational auditing, and risk auditing. The purpose of this content is to clarify the differences between the two services. After reading the article, one should have a good understanding of what each service performs and how they differ.
Head to Head Comparison Between CloudTrail vs CloudWatch (Infographics)
Below are the top 11 differences between CloudTrail vs CloudWatch:
Comparison Table of CloudTrail vs CloudWatch
| CloudTrail | CloudWatch | |
| Aim | It is primarily concerned with what is to be done and by whom on AWS. And reports the changes from the location. | It’s mostly about what’s going on with AWS resources. |
| Purpose | These are customed under Cloud Monitoring. | These are under Log Management. |
| Tracking | CloudTrail gives a better picture of what the users are up to by logging AWS console operations like who made the call, from what IP address, and when. | Cloudwatch allows to track metrics and log files. Can also set alarms for different occasions and Troubleshoot issues. |
| Types | AWS Cloud Trial has two variants: Multi-Region – All AWS regions are represented by a single trail.
Single Region – Only events from a single region are included. |
Basic Monitoring and detailed Monitoring, which changes by time. It monitors software, not hardware, for Amazon Web Services. |
| Events | For each AWS region, CloudTrail provides one free copy of management event logs. CloudTrail typically delivers an event within 15 minutes after receiving an API call. | By default, the CloudWatch Logs Agent sends log data every five seconds. |
| Benefits | Access to information about user and resource activity.
AWS CloudTrail allows you to monitor account behaviour that could jeopardize the security of your AWS resources and respond immediately. |
Because it provides visibility into resource use and operational performance, Amazon CloudWatch is useful. User Services are not watched here.
The most straightforward way to get metrics in AWS and on-premises |
| Cost | If we put up a single trail to deliver a single copy of management events in each area, Amazon CloudTrail price is free. | AWS Watch is available in two pricing tiers: free and premium. CloudWatch’s premium tier includes no up-front costs. Basic Monitoring is free of cost. 50 cents are charged in case of detailed metrics. |
| Logs | Logs are saved in S3 Bucket. | Logs are done based on the services and actions performed. And saves a log in a particular Group. |
| Outputs | It Outputs S3 and records changes; reads are done. overall mean-time-to-resolution is reduced (MTTR). | Here the Outputs are configurable and shave immediate delays. overall mean-time-to-resolution is reduced (MTTR). |
| Disadvantages | One of the most common complaints about CloudTrail is that the logs are delayed by 15 minutes, making it unable to respond to activities right away. | However, because only activities that result in changes are logged in CloudWatch Events, List and Describe calls are not recorded. It’s a little more difficult to use these logs, but they work better with real-time log providers. |
| Companies Using | Netflix, Slack | Airbnb, 9GAG, and Asana are also in huge Refrigerators Plants where the temperature data are sent in Amazon cloud watch. |
Key differences of CloudTrail vs CloudWatch
1. CloudWatch is an AWS resource and application monitoring service and observability. CloudTrail is a web service that logs an AWS account’s API activity. In AWS, therefore, both are considered to be the best monitoring tools.
2. The top reason developers chose Amazon CloudWatch over the competition is to “monitor AWS resources,” while “very easy setup” was cited as a key feature in using AWS CloudTrail.
3. When compared to AWS CloudTrail, Amazon CloudWatch has a broader approval in developer stack count.
4. CloudWatch is a scalable solution that allows businesses to send logs from a variety of sources. CloudWatch can be compared to the log directory present in most *nix OS releases.
5. An engineer should be able to tell that the log is generated from the AWS Lambda service’s perspective. Where did lambda detect the error? CloudTrail, on the other hand, can detect that an API call to Lambda was made. CloudTrail is a fantastic tool for understanding the context of an event.
6. Cloudwatch can assist you in determining whether resources are over or underutilized, allowing you to better allocate resources and costs. AWS CloudTrail, on the other hand, logs every item of data. It also has an integrity corroboration property, which checks to see if the hacker has illegally approached any API logs to hide their tracks. This is a critical feature to have while checking for probable breaches. Cloud trail Insights allow establishing alerts and spot spikes or unexpected activities.
7. If we need to go back and take backlogs or events, CloudTrail provides an event history. It could identify when a user tries to change a security group or do other operations that your company doesn’t allow and respond accordingly. Companies can go through the S3 events logged in CloudTrail, such as the “trashed Object” action, to discover who performed it and when.
8. Cloud trail Insights may be used by businesses to spot anomalies inactivity, and CloudWatch could be used to trigger an alarm based on the data in the AWS trial
9. CloudWatch offers an automated dashboards mechanism, 1-second gran data, and up to 15 months of metrics storage and retention.
10. CloudTrail assists in meeting compliance and regulatory requirements. AWS CloudTrail is “Always On,” so you can see data from the previous 90 days and has a multi-region configuration.
Individually, CloudTrail and CloudWatch are equally significant, but when combined, they are larger than the sum of their sectors.
Conclusion
Therefore, Amazon CloudWatch and CloudTrail are two services that can be utilized together. CloudWatch monitors and reports on the health and performance of AWS services and resources. CloudTrail, on the other hand, is a log of all actions that have occurred within your AWS environment. As a result, we went over the basics of these two services and how to use them effectively both individually and collectively.
Recommended Articles
This is a guide to CloudTrail vs CloudWatch. Here we discuss CloudTrail vs CloudWatch key differences with infographics and comparison table, respectively. You may also have a look at the following articles to learn more –
