Microsoft Forefront TMG logs activity to it’s internal SQL Express database. In addition to the extra steps you need to perform to access this database from a remote server, importing data into Vantage is much slower than importing from W3C Text logs.

You can easily change the logging from SQL Express to W3C text logs in TMG’s logging options. However, TMG relies on the SQL Express database for it’s own reporting. Of course, we argue that Vantage more than replaces TMG’s default reporting, however it’s understandable that you don’t necessarily want to ‘loose’ a feature of TMG in order to gain faster log imports in WebSpy Vantage.

But, with a little effort, you can in fact have the best of both worlds.

If you do not want to change your default logging you can utilize this MSDE To Text script to convert your TMG SQL databases into W3C formatted text files which can be easily imported into Vantage.

See also:

• Microsoft TMG SQL to Text Script
• Rethinking Log Storage and Archiving with Data Deduplication
• Vantage Update 2.2.0.90
• Dedicated WebSpy and Forefront TMG pages – Everything you need to know about TMG Log Reporting
• Simple Network Monitoring With Windows Firewall Logging And Reporting