High Performance Extensible Logging (HPEL)

WebSphere Application Server in WAS v8 introduced a feature called HPEL.

Why should you chose HPEL over classic logging in WAS
pros:
 - HPEL allows to use one log format on both distributed and zOS WAS
-  HPEL allows you to rotate log files on zOS which could NOT be done with earlier versions of WAS.
-  HPEL improves performance by 33% on distributed
-  HPEL allows enhanced log and trace filtering by time, logger ids and other criteria
-  HPEL has a binary log format which leads to reduced log file sizes
cons:
- HPEL has a binary log format which means you have to use a logViewer post processor tool to read the file in text

Taking all these considerations we can clearly see that HPEL is badass and should be preferred over classic logging in WAS v8 and beyond.