ProHoster > Blog > Administration > More website statistics in your small storage

More website statistics in your small storage

By analyzing website statistics, we gain insight into what is happening with it. We compare the results with other knowledge about the product or service, thus improving our experience.

Once the analysis of the initial results is complete, the information has been processed, and conclusions have been drawn, the next phase begins. Ideas arise: what if we look at the data from a different perspective?

At this stage, there are limitations to the analysis tools. This is one reason why the Google Analytics tool was not sufficient for me, specifically due to its limited ability to view and manipulate my data.

I have always wanted to quickly upload basic data (master data), add another level of aggregation, or otherwise interpret the existing values.

This is easy to do in my small storage based on the access.log file, and it is sufficient to use SQL.

So, what questions was I looking to answer?

What changed on the website and when

The history of changes to the basic data (master data) is always of interest.

More website statistics in your small storage

SQL report query

SELECT
	1 as 'SideStackedBar: Content Updates by Months',
	strftime('%m/%Y', datetime(UPDATE_DT, 'unixepoch')) AS 'Day',
	COUNT(CASE WHEN PAGE_TITLE != 'n.a.' THEN DIM_REQUEST_ID END) AS 'Web page updates',
	COUNT(CASE WHEN PAGE_DESCR = 'IMAGES' THEN DIM_REQUEST_ID END) AS 'Image uploads',
	COUNT(CASE WHEN PAGE_DESCR = 'VIDEO' THEN DIM_REQUEST_ID END) AS 'Video uploads',
	COUNT(CASE WHEN PAGE_DESCR = 'AUDIO' THEN DIM_REQUEST_ID END) AS 'Audio uploads'
FROM DIM_REQUEST
WHERE PAGE_TITLE != 'n.a.' OR PAGE_DESCR != 'n.a.'
GROUP BY strftime('%m/%Y', datetime(UPDATE_DT, 'unixepoch'))
ORDER BY UPDATE_DT

For example, at some point, search engine optimization was conducted or new content was added to the site, resulting in an expected increase in traffic.

User groups

The simplest example of a group can be a user agent or the name of the operating system.

The measurement of user agents has accumulated around a thousand records, and I was interested to see the distribution dynamics of agents within the group.

More website statistics in your small storage

SQL report query

SELECT
	1 AS 'SideStackedBar: User Agents',
	AGENT_OS AS 'OS',
	SUM(CASE WHEN AGENT_BOT = 'n.a.' THEN 1 ELSE 0 END ) AS 'User Agent of Users',
	SUM(CASE WHEN AGENT_BOT != 'n.a.' THEN 1 ELSE 0 END ) AS 'User Agent of Bots'
FROM DIM_USER_AGENT
WHERE DIM_USER_AGENT_ID != -1
GROUP BY AGENT_OS
ORDER BY 3 DESC

The most diverse combinations of agents come to the site from the world of Windows. Among the undefined ones were those like WhatsApp, PocketImageCache, PlayStation, SmartTV, etc.

User groups' activity by weeks

By combining some groups, one can observe the distribution of their activity.

For example, users of the Linux cluster consume more traffic on the site than all others.

More website statistics in your small storage

SQL report query

SELECT
1 as 'StackedBar: Traffic Volume by User OS and by Week',
strftime('%W week', datetime(FCT.EVENT_DT, 'unixepoch')) AS 'Week',
SUM(CASE WHEN USG.AGENT_OS IN ('Android', 'Linux') THEN FCT.BYTES ELSE 0 END) / 1000 AS 'Android/Linux Users',
SUM(CASE WHEN USG.AGENT_OS IN ('Windows') THEN FCT.BYTES ELSE 0 END) / 1000 AS 'Windows Users',
SUM(CASE WHEN USG.AGENT_OS IN ('Macintosh', 'iOS') THEN FCT.BYTES ELSE 0 END) / 1000 AS 'Mac/iOS Users',
SUM(CASE WHEN USG.AGENT_OS IN ('n.a.', 'BlackBerry') THEN FCT.BYTES ELSE 0 END) / 1000 AS 'Other'
FROM
  FCT_ACCESS_USER_AGENT_DD FCT,
  DIM_USER_AGENT USG,
  DIM_HTTP_STATUS HST
WHERE FCT.DIM_USER_AGENT_ID = USG.DIM_USER_AGENT_ID
  AND FCT.DIM_HTTP_STATUS_ID = HST.DIM_HTTP_STATUS_ID
  AND USG.AGENT_BOT = 'n.a.' /* users only */
  AND HST.STATUS_GROUP IN ('Successful') /* good pages */
  AND datetime(FCT.EVENT_DT, 'unixepoch') > date('now', '-3 month')
GROUP BY strftime('%W week', datetime(FCT.EVENT_DT, 'unixepoch'))
ORDER BY FCT.EVENT_DT

Intensive traffic consumption

The table shows the most active user groups and the days of their activity.
The most active belong to the Linux cluster.

More website statistics in your small storage

SQL report query

SELECT
1 AS 'Table: User Agent with Heavy Usage',
strftime('%d.%m.%Y', datetime(FCT.EVENT_DT, 'unixepoch')) AS 'Day',
ROUND(1.0 * SUM(FCT.BYTES) / 1000000, 1) AS 'Traffic MB',
ROUND(1.0 * SUM(FCT.IP_CNT) / SUM(1), 1) AS 'IPs',
ROUND(1.0 * SUM(FCT.REQUEST_CNT) / SUM(1), 1) AS 'Requests',
USA.DIM_USER_AGENT_ID AS 'ID',
MAX(USA.USER_AGENT_NK) AS 'User Agent',
MAX(USA.AGENT_BOT) AS 'Bot'
FROM
FCT_ACCESS_USER_AGENT_DD FCT,
DIM_USER_AGENT USA
WHERE FCT.DIM_USER_AGENT_ID = USA.DIM_USER_AGENT_ID
  AND datetime(FCT.EVENT_DT, 'unixepoch') >= date('now', '-30 day')
GROUP BY USA.DIM_USER_AGENT_ID, strftime('%d.%m.%Y', datetime(FCT.EVENT_DT, 'unixepoch'))
ORDER BY SUM(FCT.BYTES) DESC, FCT.EVENT_DT
LIMIT 10

By using the day and agent ID attributes, it is possible to quickly find and track statistics by days for individual user groups. If necessary, detailed information can be quickly found in the staging table.

How to obtain the information?

Information from the access.log file can be made even more efficient by integrating additional data sources, introducing new levels of aggregation and grouping.

Basic data and entities

Basic data includes information about entities: web pages, images, video and audio content, and in the case of a store, products.

The entities themselves serve as dimensions, and the process of preserving changes in attributes is called historical tracking. In a database, this process is often implemented in the form of slowly changing dimensions (SCD).

The source of basic data can be very different systems, so they almost always need to be integrated.

Slowly changing dimension

The DIM_REQUEST dimension will contain information about requests on the site in historical form.

SCD2 Table

CREATE TABLE DIM_REQUEST ( /* scd table for user requests */
  DIM_REQUEST_ID      INTEGER NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
  DIM_REQUEST_ID_HIST INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT -1,
  REQUEST_NK          TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT 'n.a.', /* request without ?parameters */
  PAGE_TITLE          TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT 'n.a.',
  PAGE_DESCR          TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT 'n.a.',
  PAGE_KEYWORDS       TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT 'n.a.',
  DELETE_FLAG         INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
  UPDATE_DT           INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
  UNIQUE (REQUEST_NK, DIM_REQUEST_ID_HIST)
);
INSERT INTO DIM_REQUEST (DIM_REQUEST_ID) VALUES (-1);

Additionally, we will create a view that always shows all records in their latest state. This is necessary for loading the dimension itself.

More website statistics in your small storage

Current SCD2 View

/* Content: actual view on scd table */
SELECT HI.DIM_REQUEST_ID,
  HI.DIM_REQUEST_ID_HIST,
  HI.REQUEST_NK,
  HI.PAGE_TITLE,
  HI.PAGE_DESCR,
  HI.PAGE_KEYWORDS,
  NK.CNT AS HIST_CNT,
  HI.DELETE_FLAG,
  strftime('%d.%m.%Y %H:%M', datetime(HI.UPDATE_DT, 'unixepoch')) AS UPDATE_DT
FROM
  ( SELECT REQUEST_NK, MAX(DIM_REQUEST_ID) AS DIM_REQUEST_ID, SUM(1) AS CNT
    FROM DIM_REQUEST
    GROUP BY REQUEST_NK
  ) NK,
  DIM_REQUEST HI
WHERE 1 = 1
  AND NK.REQUEST_NK = HI.REQUEST_NK
  AND NK.DIM_REQUEST_ID = HI.DIM_REQUEST_ID;

And a view where historical information is gathered for each record. This is necessary for building a historically accurate connection with the facts.

More website statistics in your small storage

Historical SCD2 View

/* Content: actual view on scd table */
SELECT SCD.DIM_REQUEST_ID,
  SCD.DIM_REQUEST_ID_HIST,
  SCD.REQUEST_NK,
  SCD.PAGE_TITLE,
  SCD.PAGE_DESCR,
  SCD.PAGE_KEYWORDS,
  SCD.DELETE_FLAG,
  CASE
    WHEN HIS.UPDATE_DT IS NULL
    THEN 1
    ELSE 0 END ACTIVE_FLAG,
  SCD.DIM_REQUEST_ID_HIST AS ID_FROM,
  SCD.DIM_REQUEST_ID AS ID_TO,
  CASE
    WHEN SCD.DIM_REQUEST_ID_HIST=-1
    THEN 3600
    ELSE IFNULL(SCD.UPDATE_DT,3600)
  END AS TIME_FROM,
  CASE
    WHEN HIS.UPDATE_DT IS NULL
    THEN 253370764800
    ELSE HIS.UPDATE_DT
  END AS TIME_TO,
  CASE
    WHEN SCD.DIM_REQUEST_ID_HIST=-1
    THEN STRFTIME('%d.%m.%Y %H:%M', DATETIME(3600, 'unixepoch'))
    ELSE STRFTIME('%d.%m.%Y %H:%M', DATETIME(IFNULL(SCD.UPDATE_DT,3600), 'unixepoch'))
  END AS ACTIVE_FROM,
  CASE
    WHEN HIS.UPDATE_DT IS NULL
    THEN STRFTIME('%d.%m.%Y %H:%M', DATETIME(253370764800, 'unixepoch'))
    ELSE STRFTIME('%d.%m.%Y %H:%M', DATETIME(HIS.UPDATE_DT, 'unixepoch'))
  END AS ACTIVE_TO
FROM
  DIM_REQUEST SCD
  LEFT OUTER JOIN DIM_REQUEST HIS
  ON SCD.REQUEST_NK = HIS.REQUEST_NK AND SCD.DIM_REQUEST_ID = HIS.DIM_REQUEST_ID_HIST;

Data Aggregation

Aggregation allows for assessing data at a higher level and detecting anomalies and trends that are not visible in detailed reports.

For example, we will add a group to the dimension with request status codes DIM_HTTP_STATUS:

STATUS / GROUP
0xx / n.a.
1xx / Informational
2xx / Successful
3xx / Redirection
4xx / Client Error
5xx / Server Error

The DIM_USER_AGENT dimension will contain attributes AGENT_OS and AGENT_BOT, responsible for the groups. They can be populated during the ETL process:

Loading DIM_USER_AGENT

/* Propagate the user agent from access log */
INSERT INTO DIM_USER_AGENT (USER_AGENT_NK, AGENT_OS, AGENT_ENGINE, AGENT_DEVICE, AGENT_BOT, UPDATE_DT)
WITH CLS AS (
	SELECT BROWSER
	FROM STG_ACCESS_LOG WHERE LENGTH(BROWSER)>1
	GROUP BY BROWSER
)
SELECT
	CLS.BROWSER AS USER_AGENT_NK,
	CASE
	WHEN INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'Macintosh')>0
		THEN 'Macintosh'
	WHEN INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'iPhone')>0
			 OR INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'iPad')>0
			 OR INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'iPod')>0
			 OR INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'Apple TV')>0
			 OR INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'Darwin')>0
		THEN 'iOS'
	WHEN INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'Android')>0
		THEN 'Android'
	WHEN INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'X11;')>0 OR INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'Wayland;')>0 OR INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'linux-gnu')>0
		THEN 'Linux'
	WHEN INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'BB10;')>0 OR INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'BlackBerry')>0
		THEN 'BlackBerry'
	WHEN INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'Windows')>0
		THEN 'Windows'
	ELSE 'n.a.' END AS AGENT_OS, -- OS
	CASE
	WHEN INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'AppleCoreMedia')>0
		THEN 'AppleWebKit'
	WHEN INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,') ')>1 AND LENGTH(CLS.BROWSER)>INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,') ')
		THEN COALESCE(SUBSTR(CLS.BROWSER, INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,') ')+2, LENGTH(CLS.BROWSER) - INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,') ')-1), 'N/A')
	ELSE 'n.a.' END AS AGENT_ENGINE, -- Engine
	CASE
	WHEN INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'iPhone')>0
		THEN 'iPhone'
	WHEN INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'iPad')>0
		THEN 'iPad'
	WHEN INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'iPod')>0
		THEN 'iPod'
	WHEN INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'Apple TV')>0
		THEN 'Apple TV'
	WHEN INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'Android ')>0 AND INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'Build')>0
		THEN COALESCE(SUBSTR(CLS.BROWSER, INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'Android '), INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'Build')-INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'Android ')), 'n.a.')
	WHEN INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'Android ')>0 AND INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'MIUI')>0
		THEN COALESCE(SUBSTR(CLS.BROWSER, INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'Android '), INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'MIUI')-INSTR(CLS.BROWSER,'Android ')), 'n.a.')
	ELSE 'n.a.' END AS AGENT_DEVICE, -- Device
	CASE
	WHEN INSTR(LOWER(CLS.BROWSER),'yandex.com')>0
		THEN 'yandex'
	WHEN INSTR(LOWER(CLS.BROWSER),'googlebot')>0
		THEN 'google'
	WHEN INSTR(LOWER(CLS.BROWSER),'bingbot')>0
		THEN 'microsoft'
	WHEN INSTR(LOWER(CLS.BROWSER),'ahrefsbot')>0
		THEN 'ahrefs'
	WHEN INSTR(LOWER(CLS.BROWSER),'jobboersebot')>0 OR INSTR(LOWER(CLS.BROWSER),'jobkicks')>0
		THEN 'job.de'
	WHEN INSTR(LOWER(CLS.BROWSER),'mail.ru')>0
		THEN 'mail.ru'
	WHEN INSTR(LOWER(CLS.BROWSER),'baiduspider')>0
		THEN 'baidu'
	WHEN INSTR(LOWER(CLS.BROWSER),'mj12bot')>0
		THEN 'majestic-12'
	WHEN INSTR(LOWER(CLS.BROWSER),'duckduckgo')>0
		THEN 'duckduckgo'
	WHEN INSTR(LOWER(CLS.BROWSER),'bytespider')>0
		THEN 'bytespider'
	WHEN INSTR(LOWER(CLS.BROWSER),'360spider')>0
		THEN 'so.360.cn'
	WHEN INSTR(LOWER(CLS.BROWSER),'compatible')>0 OR INSTR(LOWER(CLS.BROWSER),'http')>0
		OR INSTR(LOWER(CLS.BROWSER),'libwww')>0 OR INSTR(LOWER(CLS.BROWSER),'spider')>0
		OR INSTR(LOWER(CLS.BROWSER),'java')>0 OR INSTR(LOWER(CLS.BROWSER),'python')>0
		OR INSTR(LOWER(CLS.BROWSER),'robot')>0 OR INSTR(LOWER(CLS.BROWSER),'curl')>0 OR INSTR(LOWER(CLS.BROWSER),'wget')>0
		THEN 'other'
	ELSE 'n.a.' END AS AGENT_BOT, -- Bot
	STRFTIME('%s','now') AS UPDATE_DT
FROM CLS
LEFT OUTER JOIN DIM_USER_AGENT TRG
ON CLS.BROWSER = TRG.USER_AGENT_NK
WHERE TRG.DIM_USER_AGENT_ID IS NULL

Data Integration

It involves organizing the transfer of data from the operating system to the report. For this, it is necessary to create a staging table with a structure similar to the source.

Information about web pages enters the staging from the CMS backup as insert requests.

Loading the historical DIM_REQUEST table with basic data occurs in three steps: loading new keys and attributes, updating existing ones, and fixing deleted records.

Loading New Records SCD2

/* Load request table SCD from master data */
INSERT INTO DIM_REQUEST (DIM_REQUEST_ID_HIST, REQUEST_NK, PAGE_TITLE, PAGE_DESCR, PAGE_KEYWORDS, DELETE_FLAG, UPDATE_DT)
WITH CLS  AS ( -- prepare keys
	SELECT
	'/' || NAME AS REQUEST_NK,
	TITLE       AS PAGE_TITLE,
	CASE WHEN DESCRIPTION = '' OR DESCRIPTION IS NULL
	     THEN 'n.a.' ELSE DESCRIPTION
	END AS PAGE_DESCR,
	CASE WHEN KEYWORDS = '' OR KEYWORDS IS NULL
	     THEN 'n.a.' ELSE KEYWORDS
	END AS PAGE_KEYWORDS
	FROM STG_CMS_MENU
	WHERE CONTENT_TYPE != 'folder' -- only web pages
	  AND PAGE_TITLE != 'n.a.' -- master data which make sense
)
/* new records from stage: CLS */
SELECT
	-1 AS DIM_REQUEST_ID_HIST,
	CLS.REQUEST_NK,
	CLS.PAGE_TITLE,
	CLS.PAGE_DESCR,
	CLS.PAGE_KEYWORDS,
	0 AS DELETE_FLAG,
	STRFTIME('%s','now') AS UPDATE_DT
FROM CLS
LEFT OUTER JOIN
 (
	SELECT
	DIM_REQUEST_ID,
	REQUEST_NK,
	PAGE_TITLE,
	PAGE_DESCR,
	PAGE_KEYWORDS
	FROM DIM_REQUEST_V_ACT
) TRG ON CLS.REQUEST_NK = TRG.REQUEST_NK
WHERE TRG.REQUEST_NK IS NULL -- no such record in data mart

Updating Attributes SCD2

/* Load request table SCD from master data */
INSERT INTO DIM_REQUEST (DIM_REQUEST_ID_HIST, REQUEST_NK, PAGE_TITLE, PAGE_DESCR, PAGE_KEYWORDS, DELETE_FLAG, UPDATE_DT)
WITH CLS  AS ( -- prepare keys
	SELECT
	'/' || NAME AS REQUEST_NK,
	TITLE       AS PAGE_TITLE,
	CASE WHEN DESCRIPTION = '' OR DESCRIPTION IS NULL
	     THEN 'n.a.' ELSE DESCRIPTION
	END AS PAGE_DESCR,
	CASE WHEN KEYWORDS = '' OR KEYWORDS IS NULL
	     THEN 'n.a.' ELSE KEYWORDS
	END AS PAGE_KEYWORDS
	FROM STG_CMS_MENU
	WHERE CONTENT_TYPE != 'folder' -- only web pages
	  AND PAGE_TITLE != 'n.a.' -- master data which make sense
)
/* updated records from stage: CLS and build reference to history: HIST */
SELECT
	HIST.DIM_REQUEST_ID AS DIM_REQUEST_ID_HIST,
	HIST.REQUEST_NK,
	CLS.PAGE_TITLE,
	CLS.PAGE_DESCR,
	CLS.PAGE_KEYWORDS,
	0 AS DELETE_FLAG,
	STRFTIME('%s','now') AS UPDATE_DT
FROM CLS,
     DIM_REQUEST_V_ACT TRG,
     DIM_REQUEST HIST
WHERE CLS.REQUEST_NK = TRG.REQUEST_NK
  AND TRG.DIM_REQUEST_ID = HIST.DIM_REQUEST_ID
  AND ( CLS.PAGE_TITLE != HIST.PAGE_TITLE /* changes only */
     OR CLS.PAGE_DESCR != HIST.PAGE_DESCR
     OR CLS.PAGE_KEYWORDS != HIST.PAGE_KEYWORDS )

Deleted Records SCD2

/* Load request table SCD from master data */
INSERT INTO DIM_REQUEST (DIM_REQUEST_ID_HIST, REQUEST_NK, PAGE_TITLE, PAGE_DESCR, PAGE_KEYWORDS, DELETE_FLAG, UPDATE_DT)
WITH CLS  AS ( -- prepare keys
	SELECT
	'/' || NAME AS REQUEST_NK,
	TITLE       AS PAGE_TITLE
	FROM STG_CMS_MENU
	WHERE CONTENT_TYPE != 'folder' -- only web pages
	  AND PAGE_TITLE != 'n.a.' -- master data which make sense
)
/*  deleted records in data mart: TRG */
SELECT
	TRG.DIM_REQUEST_ID AS DIM_REQUEST_ID_HIST,
	TRG.REQUEST_NK,
	TRG.PAGE_TITLE,
	TRG.PAGE_DESCR,
	TRG.PAGE_KEYWORDS,
	1 AS DELETE_FLAG,
	STRFTIME('%s','now') AS UPDATE_DT
FROM (
	SELECT
	DIM_REQUEST_ID,
	REQUEST_NK,
	PAGE_TITLE,
	PAGE_DESCR,
	PAGE_KEYWORDS
	FROM DIM_REQUEST_V_ACT
	WHERE PAGE_TITLE != 'n.a.' -- track master data only
	  AND DELETE_FLAG = 0 -- not already deleted
) TRG
LEFT OUTER JOIN CLS ON TRG.REQUEST_NK = CLS.REQUEST_NK
WHERE CLS.REQUEST_NK IS NULL -- no such record in stage

Each data source must be accompanied by a formal description, for example, in a readme.txt file:

Data recipient formal/technical: name, email address
Data provider formal/technical: name, email address
Data source: file path, service names
Data access information: users and passwords

The data flow schema will help in the support and updating process, for example, in text form:

File transfer. Source: ftp.domain.net: /logs/access.log Target: /var/www/access.log
Reading in the staging. Target: STG_ACCESS_LOG
Loading and transformation. Objective: FCT_ACCESS_REQUEST_REF_HH
Loading and transformation. Objective: FCT_ACCESS_USER_AGENT_DD
Report. Objective: /var/www/report.html

Output

Thus, the article describes mechanisms such as data integration and the introduction of new aggregation levels. These are necessary when constructing data warehouses to gain additional insights and improve the quality of information.

Source: habr.com

Buy reliable website hosting with DDoS protection, VPS VDS servers 🔥 Buy reliable website hosting with DDoS protection, VPS VDS servers | ProHoster