> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.fluentd.org/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.fluentd.org/quickstart.md).

# Overview

Let's get started with **Fluentd**! **Fluentd** is a fully free and fully open-source log collector that instantly enables you to have a '**Log Everything**' architecture with [125+ types of systems](https://www.fluentd.org/plugins).

![Fluentd Architecture](/files/c2XterliB1ZvVEJDbU6V)

Fluentd treats logs as JSON, a popular machine-readable format. It is written primarily in C with a thin-Ruby wrapper that gives users flexibility.

Fluentd's scalability has been proven in the field: its largest user currently collects logs from **50,000+ servers**.

## Step 1: Installing Fluentd

You can install Fluentd as a package, Ruby gem, or from source.

Please see the following article for details.

* [Installation](/installation.md)

## Step 2: Use Cases

The following articles cover the typical use cases of Fluentd:

* Use Cases
  * [Data Search like Splunk](/how-to-guides/free-alternative-to-splunk-by-fluentd.md)
  * [Data Filtering and Alerting](/how-to-guides/splunk-like-grep-and-alert-email.md)
  * [Data Analytics with Treasure Data](/how-to-guides/http-to-td.md)
  * [Data Collection to MongoDB](/how-to-guides/apache-to-mongodb.md)
  * [Data Collection to HDFS](/how-to-guides/http-to-hdfs.md)
  * [Data Archiving to Amazon S3](/how-to-guides/apache-to-s3.md)
* Basic Configuration
  * [Config File](/configuration/config-file.md)
* Application Logs
  * [Ruby](/language-bindings/ruby.md), [Java](/language-bindings/java.md), [Python](/language-bindings/python.md), [PHP](/language-bindings/php.md),

    [Perl](/language-bindings/perl.md), [Node.js](/language-bindings/nodejs.md), [Scala](/language-bindings/scala.md)
* Happy Users :)
  * [Users](https://www.fluentd.org/testimonials)

## Step 3: Learn More

The following articles will provide detailed information about Fluentd:

* [Architecture Overview](https://www.fluentd.org/architecture)
* [Lifecycle of a Fluentd Event](/quickstart/life-of-a-fluentd-event.md)
* Plugin Overview
  * [Input Plugins](/input.md)
  * [Output Plugins](/output.md)
  * [Buffer Plugins](/buffer.md)
  * [Filter Plugins](/filter.md)
  * [Parser Plugins](/parser.md)
  * [Formatter Plugins](/formatter.md)
* [High Availability Configuration](/deployment/high-availability.md)
* [FAQ](/quickstart/faq.md)

If this article is incorrect or outdated, or omits critical information, please [let us know](https://github.com/fluent/fluentd-docs-gitbook/issues?state=open). [Fluentd](http://www.fluentd.org/) is an open-source project under [Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF)](https://cncf.io/). All components are available under [the Apache License 2.0.](https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)