Built-in Auditing Support in Windows SharePoint Services

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 introduces built-in audit log can be enabled and configured in the scope of a site collection. Enabling auditing, Windows SharePoint Services writes entries internal audit event in an audit log table that is stored in the database content. The audit entries of events for a site collection are stored with the other contents of Windows SharePoint Services, such as list items, documents and Web Part customizations. When you backup a site collection, all information in the audit log is also a backup.
While Windows SharePoint Services provides the basic mechanisms of the audit provides no built-in support for users to enable auditing. Because Windows SharePoint Services does not provide the functionality to see which entries are written to the audit log, a developer must write code to enable auditing of Windows SharePoint Services installation log. A developer must also provide the code and a user interface to read the audit log entries and display these data to users of the site. The sample code that accompanies this article shows how to create custom solution such audit.
While Windows SharePoint Services provides the basic mechanisms of control, Office SharePoint Server 2007 adds value by providing a user interface that allows management audit site collection level. Office SharePoint Server 2007 goes even further and allows the audit on the list or document library, and control over what types of events should be recorded in the audit log. Office SharePoint Server 2007 also provides a reporting function that uses Microsoft Office Excel book to display and record of audit logs. Therefore, Office SharePoint Server 2007 lets you take advantage of the compatibility of Windows SharePoint Services audit without writing any custom code.