Filebeat is a lightweight log shipper from the Beats family, designed to forward log data to the ELK Stack for analysis. It functions as a logging agent, installed on machines to tail and transmit log files to Logstash or Elasticsearch. Initially reliant on Logstash, Filebeat has evolved to improve its log processing capabilities, sometimes serving as an alternative. Written in Go, it efficiently handles large data volumes with low memory usage and supports encryption. The tutorial outlines installation methods using Apt and Docker, highlights Filebeat's configuration options, including inputs, processors, and outputs, and emphasizes the use of modules for common log types like Apache and MySQL. However, the closure of the ELK Stack's open-source status by Elastic in 2021 and changes to Filebeat that limit its compatibility to Elasticsearch have led some engineers to consider open-source alternatives like Fluentd or FluentBit for vendor-neutral log collection.