An optical transceiver that custom logs information based on input from a host computing system (hereinafter referred to as a “host”). The optical transceiver receives input from the host concerning which operational information to log; the operational information may include statistical data about system operation, or measured parameters, or any other measurable system characteristic. The input from the host may also specify one or more storage locations corresponding to the identified operational information. If one or more storage locations are specified, the optical transceiver logs the information to the corresponding storage locations, which may be an on-transceiver persistent memory, the memory of the host or any other accessible logging location. Additionally, the input from the host may specify one or more actions to be performed when the identified information is logged. If one or more actions are specified, the optical transceiver performs the specified actions when the information is logged.