diff --git a/LibreNMS/IRCBot.php b/LibreNMS/IRCBot.php
index e864ac5286..5f9a102448 100644
--- a/LibreNMS/IRCBot.php
+++ b/LibreNMS/IRCBot.php
@@ -691,13 +691,13 @@ class IRCBot
         }
 
         if ($this->user['level'] < 5) {
-            $tmp = dbFetchRows('SELECT `event_id`,`host`,`datetime`,`message`,`type` FROM `eventlog` WHERE `host` IN ('.implode(',', $this->user['devices']).') ORDER BY `event_id` DESC LIMIT '.mres($num));
+            $tmp = dbFetchRows('SELECT `event_id`,`device_id`,`datetime`,`message`,`type` FROM `eventlog` WHERE `device_id` IN ('.implode(',', $this->user['devices']).') ORDER BY `event_id` DESC LIMIT '. (int)$num);
         } else {
-            $tmp = dbFetchRows('SELECT `event_id`,`host`,`datetime`,`message`,`type` FROM `eventlog` ORDER BY `event_id` DESC LIMIT '.mres($num));
+            $tmp = dbFetchRows('SELECT `event_id`,`device_id`,`datetime`,`message`,`type` FROM `eventlog` ORDER BY `event_id` DESC LIMIT '.(int)$num);
         }
 
         foreach ($tmp as $device) {
-            $hostid = dbFetchRow('SELECT `hostname` FROM `devices` WHERE `device_id` = '.$device['host']);
+            $hostid = dbFetchRow('SELECT `hostname` FROM `devices` WHERE `device_id` = '.$device['device_id']);
             $this->respond($device['event_id'].' '.$hostid['hostname'].' '.$device['datetime'].' '.$device['message'].' '.$device['type']);
         }
 
diff --git a/app/Models/Device.php b/app/Models/Device.php
index 9ea78812eb..569871680d 100644
--- a/app/Models/Device.php
+++ b/app/Models/Device.php
@@ -487,7 +487,7 @@ class Device extends BaseModel
 
     public function eventlogs()
     {
-        return $this->hasMany('App\Models\General\Eventlog', 'host', 'device_id');
+        return $this->hasMany('App\Models\Eventlog', 'device_id', 'device_id');
     }
 
     public function groups()
diff --git a/app/Models/Eventlog.php b/app/Models/Eventlog.php
index 2488ebf33a..c09eddefcb 100644
--- a/app/Models/Eventlog.php
+++ b/app/Models/Eventlog.php
@@ -25,11 +25,43 @@
 
 namespace App\Models;
 
+use Carbon\Carbon;
+
 class Eventlog extends BaseModel
 {
     protected $table = 'eventlog';
     protected $primaryKey = 'event_id';
     public $timestamps = false;
+    protected $fillable = ['datetime', 'message', 'type', 'reference', 'username', 'severity'];
+
+    // ---- Helper Functions ----
+
+    /**
+     * Log events to the event table
+     *
+     * @param string $text message describing the event
+     * @param Device $device related device
+     * @param string $type brief category for this event. Examples: sensor, state, stp, system, temperature, interface
+     * @param int $severity 1: ok, 2: info, 3: notice, 4: warning, 5: critical, 0: unknown
+     * @param int $reference the id of the referenced entity.  Supported types: interface
+     */
+    public static function log($text, $device = null, $type = null, $severity = 2, $reference = null)
+    {
+        $log = new static([
+            'reference' => $reference,
+            'type' => $type,
+            'datetime' => Carbon::now(),
+            'severity' => $severity,
+            'message' => $text,
+            'username'  => (class_exists('\Auth') && \Auth::check()) ? \Auth::user()->username : '',
+        ]);
+
+        if ($device instanceof Device) {
+            $device->eventlogs()->save($log);
+        } else {
+            $log->save();
+        }
+    }
 
     // ---- Query scopes ----
 
diff --git a/html/includes/api_functions.inc.php b/html/includes/api_functions.inc.php
index 63be15a7a3..3afefacf5f 100644
--- a/html/includes/api_functions.inc.php
+++ b/html/includes/api_functions.inc.php
@@ -2150,7 +2150,7 @@ function list_services()
 function list_logs()
 {
     check_is_read();
-    global $config;
+
     $app = \Slim\Slim::getInstance();
     $router = $app->router()->getCurrentRoute()->getParams();
     $type = $app->router()->getCurrentRoute()->getName();
@@ -2158,6 +2158,7 @@ function list_logs()
     $device_id = ctype_digit($hostname) ? $hostname : getidbyname($hostname);
     if ($type === 'list_eventlog') {
         $table = 'eventlog';
+        $select = '`eventlog`.`device_id` as `host`, `eventlog`.*'; // inject host for backward compat
         $timestamp = 'datetime';
     } elseif ($type === 'list_syslog') {
         $table = 'syslog';
@@ -2173,13 +2174,14 @@ function list_logs()
         $timestamp = 'datetime';
     }
 
-    $start = mres($_GET['start']) ?: 0;
-    $limit = mres($_GET['limit']) ?: 50;
-    $from = mres($_GET['from']);
-    $to = mres($_GET['to']);
+    $start = (int)$_GET['start'] ?: 0;
+    $limit = (int)$_GET['limit'] ?: 50;
+    $from = (int)$_GET['from'];
+    $to = (int)$_GET['to'];
 
     $count_query = 'SELECT COUNT(*)';
-    $full_query = "SELECT `devices`.`hostname`, `devices`.`sysName`, `$table`.*";
+    $full_query = "SELECT `devices`.`hostname`, `devices`.`sysName`, ";
+    $full_query .= isset($select) ? $select : "`$table`.*";
 
     $param = array();
     $query = " FROM $table LEFT JOIN `devices` ON `$table`.`device_id`=`devices`.`device_id` WHERE 1";
diff --git a/html/includes/print-event.inc.php b/html/includes/print-event.inc.php
index 2f639ec1eb..f97c690c3c 100644
--- a/html/includes/print-event.inc.php
+++ b/html/includes/print-event.inc.php
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
  * @author     LibreNMS Contributors
 */
 
-$hostname = gethostbyid($entry['host']);
+$hostname = gethostbyid($entry['device_id']);
 
 unset($icon);
 
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ echo '<td>'.$icon .'</td>';
 echo '<td style="vertical-align: middle;">'.$entry['datetime'].'</td>';
 
 if (!isset($vars['device'])) {
-    $dev = device_by_id_cache($entry['host']);
+    $dev = device_by_id_cache($entry['device_id']);
     echo '<td style="vertical-align: middle;">'.generate_device_link($dev, shorthost($dev['hostname'])).'</td>';
 }
 
diff --git a/html/includes/table/eventlog.inc.php b/html/includes/table/eventlog.inc.php
index 66a600d05f..03f0ef5340 100644
--- a/html/includes/table/eventlog.inc.php
+++ b/html/includes/table/eventlog.inc.php
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ use LibreNMS\Authentication\LegacyAuth;
 $where = '1';
 
 if (is_numeric($vars['device'])) {
-    $where .= ' AND E.host = ?';
-    $param[] = $vars['device'];
+    $where .= ' AND E.device_id = ?';
+    $param[] = (int)$vars['device'];
 }
 
 if (!empty($vars['eventtype'])) {
@@ -33,9 +33,9 @@ if ($vars['string']) {
 }
 
 if (LegacyAuth::user()->hasGlobalRead()) {
-    $sql = " FROM `eventlog` AS E LEFT JOIN `devices` AS `D` ON `E`.`host`=`D`.`device_id` WHERE $where";
+    $sql = " FROM `eventlog` AS E LEFT JOIN `devices` AS `D` ON `E`.`device_id`=`D`.`device_id` WHERE $where";
 } else {
-    $sql = " FROM `eventlog` AS E, devices_perms AS P WHERE $where AND E.host = P.device_id AND P.user_id = ?";
+    $sql = " FROM `eventlog` AS E, devices_perms AS P WHERE $where AND E.device_id = P.device_id AND P.user_id = ?";
     $param[] = LegacyAuth::id();
 }
 
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ if ($rowCount != -1) {
 $sql = "SELECT `E`.*,DATE_FORMAT(datetime, '" . $config['dateformat']['mysql']['compact'] . "') as humandate,severity $sql";
 
 foreach (dbFetchRows($sql, $param) as $eventlog) {
-    $dev = device_by_id_cache($eventlog['host']);
+    $dev = device_by_id_cache($eventlog['device_id']);
     if ($eventlog['type'] == 'interface') {
         $this_if = cleanPort(getifbyid($eventlog['reference']));
         $type = '<b>' . generate_port_link($this_if, makeshortif(strtolower($this_if['label']))) . '</b>';
diff --git a/html/pages/device/overview/eventlog.inc.php b/html/pages/device/overview/eventlog.inc.php
index 3394a88c39..3ff9052fea 100644
--- a/html/pages/device/overview/eventlog.inc.php
+++ b/html/pages/device/overview/eventlog.inc.php
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ echo '<i class="fa fa-bookmark fa-lg icon-theme" aria-hidden="true"></i> <strong
 echo '        </div>
               <table class="table table-hover table-condensed table-striped">';
 
-$eventlog = dbFetchRows("SELECT *,DATE_FORMAT(datetime, '".$config['dateformat']['mysql']['compact']."') as humandate FROM `eventlog` WHERE `host` = ? ORDER BY `datetime` DESC LIMIT 0,10", array($device['device_id']));
+$eventlog = dbFetchRows("SELECT *,DATE_FORMAT(datetime, '".$config['dateformat']['mysql']['compact']."') as humandate FROM `eventlog` WHERE `device_id` = ? ORDER BY `datetime` DESC LIMIT 0,10", [$device['device_id']]);
 foreach ($eventlog as $entry) {
     include 'includes/print-event-short.inc.php';
 }
diff --git a/html/pages/device/port/events.inc.php b/html/pages/device/port/events.inc.php
index fe38c50e5b..29e41d0456 100644
--- a/html/pages/device/port/events.inc.php
+++ b/html/pages/device/port/events.inc.php
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <?php
 
-$entries = dbFetchRows("SELECT *,DATE_FORMAT(datetime, '".$config['dateformat']['mysql']['compact']."') as humandate  FROM `eventlog` WHERE `host` = ? AND `type` = 'interface' AND `reference` = '".$port['port_id']."' ORDER BY `datetime` DESC LIMIT 0,250", array($device['device_id']));
+$entries = dbFetchRows("SELECT *,DATE_FORMAT(datetime, '".$config['dateformat']['mysql']['compact']."') as humandate  FROM `eventlog` WHERE `device_id` = ? AND `type` = 'interface' AND `reference` = '".$port['port_id']."' ORDER BY `datetime` DESC LIMIT 0,250", [$device['device_id']]);
 echo '<table class="table table-condensed">';
 echo '<th>Timestamp</th><th>Port</th><th>Event</th>';
 
diff --git a/includes/functions.php b/includes/functions.php
index 9f30932c2b..ed070a9208 100644
--- a/includes/functions.php
+++ b/includes/functions.php
@@ -941,17 +941,15 @@ function log_event($text, $device = null, $type = null, $severity = 2, $referenc
         $device = device_by_id_cache($device);
     }
 
-    $insert = array('host' => ($device['device_id'] ?: 0),
+    dbInsert([
         'device_id' => ($device['device_id'] ?: 0),
-        'reference' => ($reference ?: "NULL"),
-        'type' => ($type ?: "NULL"),
-        'datetime' => array("NOW()"),
+        'reference' => $reference,
+        'type' => $type,
+        'datetime' => \Carbon\Carbon::now(),
         'severity' => $severity,
         'message' => $text,
         'username'  => isset(LegacyAuth::user()->username) ? LegacyAuth::user()->username : '',
-     );
-
-    dbInsert($insert, 'eventlog');
+    ], 'eventlog');
 }
 
 // Parse string with emails. Return array with email (as key) and name (as value)
diff --git a/misc/db_schema.yaml b/misc/db_schema.yaml
index 80ee637fff..f1ea1d29d1 100644
--- a/misc/db_schema.yaml
+++ b/misc/db_schema.yaml
@@ -619,17 +619,15 @@ entPhysical_state:
 eventlog:
   Columns:
     - { Field: event_id, Type: 'int(10) unsigned', 'Null': false, Extra: auto_increment }
-    - { Field: host, Type: int(11), 'Null': false, Extra: '', Default: '0' }
-    - { Field: device_id, Type: 'int(10) unsigned', 'Null': false, Extra: '' }
+    - { Field: device_id, Type: 'int(10) unsigned', 'Null': true, Extra: '' }
     - { Field: datetime, Type: datetime, 'Null': false, Extra: '', Default: '1970-01-02 00:00:01' }
     - { Field: message, Type: text, 'Null': true, Extra: '' }
     - { Field: type, Type: varchar(64), 'Null': true, Extra: '' }
-    - { Field: reference, Type: varchar(64), 'Null': false, Extra: '' }
+    - { Field: reference, Type: varchar(64), 'Null': true, Extra: '' }
     - { Field: username, Type: varchar(128), 'Null': true, Extra: '' }
-    - { Field: severity, Type: tinyint(4), 'Null': true, Extra: '', Default: '2' }
+    - { Field: severity, Type: tinyint(4), 'Null': false, Extra: '', Default: '2' }
   Indexes:
     PRIMARY: { Name: PRIMARY, Columns: [event_id], Unique: true, Type: BTREE }
-    host: { Name: host, Columns: [host], Unique: false, Type: BTREE }
     datetime: { Name: datetime, Columns: [datetime], Unique: false, Type: BTREE }
     device_id: { Name: device_id, Columns: [device_id], Unique: false, Type: BTREE }
 graph_types:
diff --git a/scripts/console-ui.php b/scripts/console-ui.php
index a083504f3c..3b8c5d3ae8 100755
--- a/scripts/console-ui.php
+++ b/scripts/console-ui.php
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ while ($end == 0) {
 
         $query = "SELECT *,DATE_FORMAT(datetime, '".$config['dateformat']['mysql']['compact']."') as humandate  FROM `eventlog` AS E $sql ORDER BY `datetime` DESC LIMIT 20";
         foreach (dbFetchRows($query, $param) as $entry) {
-            $tbl->addRow(array($entry['datetime'], gethostbyid($entry['host']), $entry['message'], $entry['type'], $entry['reference']));
+            $tbl->addRow(array($entry['datetime'], gethostbyid($entry['device_id']), $entry['message'], $entry['type'], $entry['reference']));
         }
 
         echo $tbl->getTable();
diff --git a/sql-schema/280.sql b/sql-schema/280.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1fe1f263e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sql-schema/280.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+alter table eventlog modify device_id int unsigned null;
+alter table eventlog modify reference varchar(64) null;
+alter table eventlog modify severity tinyint default 2 not null;
+drop index host on eventlog;
+alter table eventlog drop column host;