Analytics Lite (VAN Lite) is a lightweight Versa Analytics software image built for small form-factor devices with a four-core CPU and 4 GB of RAM. It accepts incoming log connections from VOS controllers and streams those logs to third-party collectors, without the database operations or cluster membership full Versa Analytics provides.
Key takeaways
- VAN Lite is a lightweight image type of Versa Analytics software.
- Runs on small four-core CPU, 4 GB RAM devices.
- Receives controller logs and streams them to third-party collectors.
- Cannot perform database operations or join the Analytics cluster.
- Configured through the CLI as a local collector plus a remote collector.
On this page: Why it mattersHow it worksHow Analytics Lite is configuredAnalytics Lite & VersaFAQ
Why is Analytics Lite important?
Not every deployment wants or needs a full Versa Analytics cluster – with its database, dashboards, and reporting infrastructure – just to get VOS device logs out to wherever an organization already does its monitoring. Some organizations run a third-party centralized monitoring platform or SIEM and simply need a way to relay controller logs into it, without standing up full-scale Analytics. Analytics Lite exists for that gap: a small-footprint software image that does one job – collect and forward – on hardware too modest to run the real thing.
That modest footprint is the point, not a limitation to work around: a four-core, 4 GB device is inexpensive to deploy and easy to place close to a controller, making log relay practical in situations where deploying a full Analytics cluster would be disproportionate to the need.
What is Analytics Lite?
Analytics Lite is the VAN Lite image type of Versa Analytics software, optimized to run on small form-factor devices with a four-core CPU and 4 GB of RAM. A node running this image can accept incoming connections carrying logs from VOS devices and stream those logs onward to third-party collectors, but it cannot perform database operations and is not part of the general Analytics cluster – it has none of full Analytics’ dashboards, reports, or stored log visibility.
Because there’s no database running on a VAN Lite node, log retention has to live on the third-party server the logs are streamed to; the node itself doesn’t keep a queryable history. It can, however, export alarms to Versa Director, giving the management plane visibility into device health even though the logs themselves live elsewhere.
How Analytics Lite is configured
A VAN Lite node’s configuration has two parts, both done through the CLI: a local collector that receives logs from the controller, and a remote collector that streams those logs onward to third-party devices. Setting this up means assigning northbound and southbound IP addresses to the node’s eth0 and eth1 interfaces, and configuring routing for the controller’s control and overlay networks through the southbound interface so the node can actually reach the controller it’s collecting from.
Versa describes two main use cases for this setup: relaying logs into a third-party centralized monitoring platform when an organization has chosen not to deploy full-scale Analytics infrastructure, or adding it alongside an existing monitoring server or SIEM to relay all or selected VOS logs for centralized, multi-vendor correlation.
Analytics Lite & Versa
Analytics Lite is a lightweight edition of Versa Analytics, scoped down to log collection and forwarding rather than full dashboards, reports, and traffic-volume estimation. It follows the same “Lite” naming pattern as VOS Lite, Versa’s resource-optimized VOS image for small form-factor devices, though the two serve different roles – VOS Lite runs the network device itself, while VAN Lite runs the log-collection node beside it. A VAN Lite node’s job is specifically to receive logs from a Controller, the VOS device that anchors the SD-WAN control plane. Because VAN Lite images ship and upgrade alongside Director and full Analytics images, they’re included in standard software upgrade workflows, with one operational difference: Analytics Lite nodes must be upgraded one at a time rather than in parallel.
Frequently asked questions
What hardware does Analytics Lite run on?
Small form-factor devices with a four-core CPU and 4 GB of RAM – hardware too modest to run full Versa Analytics, but sufficient to receive and relay logs.
What can’t Analytics Lite do that full Versa Analytics can?
It can’t perform database operations or join the general Analytics cluster, so it has no dashboards, reports, or stored log visibility of its own. Log retention has to live on the third-party server the logs are streamed to.
How is Analytics Lite configured?
Through the CLI, in two parts: a local collector that receives logs from the controller, and a remote collector that streams them to third-party devices. This requires setting northbound and southbound IP addresses on the node’s interfaces.
When would I use Analytics Lite instead of full Versa Analytics?
When an organization already runs a third-party centralized monitoring platform or SIEM and doesn’t want to deploy full-scale Analytics infrastructure, or as an add-on to relay VOS logs into an existing monitoring environment for correlation.
Can Analytics Lite nodes be upgraded like other Analytics nodes?
Yes, VAN Lite images are part of the standard software upgrade workflow alongside Director, full Analytics, and VOS images. The one difference is that Analytics Lite nodes must be upgraded one at a time, not in parallel.
More on Versa
If you want to learn more, these are sources we trust.
| Versa Networks: products | Versa Networks: secure SD-WAN | Versa Academy |
|---|---|---|
| The vendor’s product pages covering Versa Analytics and its lightweight deployment options. | How log and telemetry collection fits into Versa’s integrated SD-WAN platform. | Training and labs covering Versa Analytics deployment and software types. |
Related terms
If you’re reading about Analytics Lite, these are worth looking at next.
| Versa Analytics | VOS Lite | Controller |
|---|---|---|
| The full headend component Analytics Lite is a lightweight, database-free edition of. | The equivalent resource-optimized image for VOS itself, sharing the “Lite” naming convention. | The VOS device whose logs an Analytics Lite node collects and forwards. |