site statistics in db vs text file

[se4b4ss]

i currently put my visitor ip info into a db and was thinking about expanding the amount of data i capture by adding os, etc, etc. the few posts i've seen regarding this topic all put their data into a text file. is there a reason for this? is there a reason i shouldn't be putting this info into a db?

thanks,
steve

[Celtboy]

not that I can think of!

Might be most others do it because then you don't need a real DB....

Some might say a db would be overkill...I say go for it.

[Len Whistler]

I use a txt file and check it in the browser. I track IP address, date, and page that they visit on my site. After a week or so I delete the file and keep an I on the new one. In my case a DB is not needed.

Most of my viewers go to my index page and then leave.

Leonard Whistler

http://www.stubby.ca

[firepages]

I do both ~

I log page hits to a text file & then weekly via cron (or manually) I run a script that parses and empties the logfile & updates the DB with processed stats.

I do not think there is a winner in the DB vs flatfile competition for logging & which is prefereable would depend on the site structure and how dynamic the page content is , e.g. if you have a load of pages that are basically static it seems a waste to connect to a DB just for logging , writing the file is quicker .. however if you already have an open connection for most of your pages then you may as well use it !