def _get_log_level(level):
        """
        small static method to get logging level
        :param str level: string of the level e.g. "INFO"
        :returns logging.<LEVEL>: appropriate debug level
        """
        # default to DEBUG
        if level is None or level == "DEBUG":
            return logging.DEBUG

        level = level.upper()
        # Make debugging configurable
        if level == "INFO":
            return logging.INFO
        elif level == "WARNING":
            return logging.WARNING
        elif level == "CRITICAL":
            return logging.CRITICAL
        elif level == "ERROR":
            return logging.ERROR
        elif level == "FATAL":
            return logging.FATAL
        else:
            raise Exception("UnknownLogLevelException: enter a valid log level")