Loki 2.4 introduces a significant change by removing the requirement for logs to be ingested in timestamp-ascending order, allowing out-of-order logs within a configurable validity window. This update simplifies the ingestion process for end users and developers by alleviating the complexities associated with maintaining ordered logs, especially in aggregation scenarios or when integrating third-party tools. The ingester component in Loki now buffers logs in memory and writes them using a one-dimensional range tree, balancing memory efficiency and read speed while handling unordered data. Despite potential performance downsides compared to the previous append-only method, the benefits of this functionality outweigh the costs, allowing Loki to handle unordered writes effectively. This feature, which becomes the default mode, is designed to enhance the user experience by reducing the operational burden and supporting new use cases, while the option to toggle it on a per-tenant basis ensures flexibility. Users can enjoy these improvements without additional configuration, making Loki 2.4 a more accessible and versatile tool for log management.