---
title: "Devo Relay"
canonical: "https://docs.devo.com/space/latest/96468993/Devo%20Relay"
format: markdown
---
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## <span style="color: #172b4d">Overview</span>

<span style="color: #172b4d">Devo Relay is a software application that receives inbound events from data sources (push sources), applies </span><span style="color: #172b4d">[processing rules](https://devodocs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/latest/pages/96469312)</span><span style="color: #172b4d"> and </span><span style="color: #172b4d">[tagging](https://devodocs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/latest/pages/95126204)</span><span style="color: #172b4d"> to the events, and then forwards them to a Devo deployment over a secure channel using SSL/TLS encryption. </span>

<span style="color: #172b4d">We strongly recommend that you set up and use a relay, especially when it's not possible to send events directly from the source system to Devo securely and with its associated tag. </span>

In addition to tagging events based on configurable rules and providing a secure channel to Devo, the relay also:

- Authenticates in Devo using SSL/TLS client authentication so all data is properly stored in the client Devo domain.
- Eliminates the need to enable isolated data sources with internet access.
- Offers the ability to compress the data to minimize bandwidth requirements for data sending.
- Uses rules to apply filters in order to weed out the events you don't need to save in your Devo deployment.
- Temporarily stores the events in the buffer in case there's an outbound connection error so events can be resent when the connection is restored.

![image](media://73eeacd4-f164-4e95-997e-db36b7787f8b)

## Encryption

Devo Relay was designed to:

- be placed within a customer's secure network alongside appliances that are incapable of encryption,
- receive events over an unencrypted channel,
- forward events to the Devo cloud using SSL/TLS encryption.

As a result, in the default configuration it is not equipped to receive inbound SSL connections; **therefore, it is the customer’s responsibility to ensure secure communications from internal sources to the Devo Relay by only ****[forwarding SSL/TLS encrypted events](https://docs.devo.com/space/latest/96469881/Sending+SSL%2FTLS+encrypted+events+to+the+relay)** if encryption is required.

## Is it necessary to use a relay?

No, it's not always necessary to use a relay. If an event source has internet connectivity, can correctly tag its events, and send them over a secure channel to the Devo cloud, you can send them directly. For example, you can monitor system logs files on Unix-like servers, then send them properly tagged and over a secure channel to the Devo cloud by using the rsyslog or syslog-ng protocols. 

Alternatively, there are 3rd party and open-source data collection tools like [NXlog](https://devodocs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/latest/pages/94658800) and [Fluentd](https://devodocs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/latest/pages/94658783) that you can also use. [Read about all of them here](https://devodocs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/latest/pages/94658747).

Although there are several alternatives for sending data to Devo, you should keep in mind that Devo Relay provides some additional benefits:

- Optimized cloud storage - You can configure the relay to filter out unnecessary events before forwarding them to the Devo cloud.
- Minimize bandwidth requirements - The relay compresses event data for faster data transmission.
- Avoid data loss - The relay retains events in the buffer so that transient connection errors don't result in data loss.

<span style="color: #ffffff">.</span>

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