Here, we'll cover how to configure different Beats to get data, such as using Filebeat to capture file data, Metricbeat to capture system metrics data, and Metricbeat to capture network packet data. Using Beats in this way means we can start getting data, as these Beats are installed on a machine from where we want to capture the data, and once they're configured, they allow you to capture the data from the machine and send it to an Elasticsearch cluster directly or via Logstash. Beats are basically lightweight data shippers built for a specific purpose. There are different types of Beats, such as Packetbeat, Filebeat, Metricbeat, Auditbeat, Heartbeat, and Winlogbeat. The following diagram shows how these Beats are sending data to a central Elasticsearch Cluster:
In the preceding diagram, we have Filebeat, which is reading log data from...