This lens gives an introduction to the various options available to specifically monitor your website. Different then monitoring a server, monitoring a website specifically is concerned mostly with the quality of service a customer is likely to expect. Usually this is accomplished by polling a web address and measuring two key metrics: the response time and the accuracy of the returned data (i.e. a "404" is returned only when expected; a page is checked against a stored copy for differences; etc).
Methods of Monitoring
The first step to finding a suitable website monitoring solution is to understand the various options available and how they fit in with your specific needs. Two options are available:
- Purchasing a monitoring service
In this case (for which there are numerous service providers available), you contract with a service that regularly polls a set of URLs you provide for preset periods of time (for instance, once each every 5 minutes). Should a problem arise (such as a URL not responding or taking too long to load), and email or other alert can be issued.
The greatest benefit of these services is that all monitoring is done outside your firewall - it's the closest thing to emulating what your customers see. On the other hand, it can be quite expensive - often ranging around $50 and up for each URL per month for the 5-minute checks. - Running the monitoring software yourself.
Another method for monitoring your website is to implement a monitoring system yourself. These can be incredibly simplistic (a suitable - though scaled-down - script can probably be hacked together in an hour or so) and are usually enough to spot issues. Alternatively, several free products exist that you can install on your own system.
To get the best monitoring, it makes sense to run the monitor from outside your firewall. Running it from within means you can't check the link between your servers and your customers. For this reason, many customers opt to use a separate service rather than running it themselves.
Calculating Your Downtime Cost
Before choosing a monitoring plan, you should spend a few minutes determining how much downtime costs your organization. Most monitoring service plans charge on a minute-by-minute basis, and determining which plan is right for you requires a little bit of math.
Let's take a look at an example online store that does (on average) $1000 in sales per day. Each minute, on average, this store does about $0.69 in sales. If the company has just one URL it wants to monitor (their store) on a per-minute basis, the cost of monitoring will be about $0.0025 per minute ($100 a month per URL, 30 days per month). In this case, the cost of the monitoring is significantly less than the cost of lost sales due to downtime.
As another example, consider a company that does (on average), $100 in sales per day. Based on this, the company is likely to lose $0.069 a minute due to downtime. Even now, the math equals out for per-minute checks: downtime costs the company 6.9 pennies a minute, while per-minute URL checks costs 1/4 of a penny.
Let's take a look at an example online store that does (on average) $1000 in sales per day. Each minute, on average, this store does about $0.69 in sales. If the company has just one URL it wants to monitor (their store) on a per-minute basis, the cost of monitoring will be about $0.0025 per minute ($100 a month per URL, 30 days per month). In this case, the cost of the monitoring is significantly less than the cost of lost sales due to downtime.
As another example, consider a company that does (on average), $100 in sales per day. Based on this, the company is likely to lose $0.069 a minute due to downtime. Even now, the math equals out for per-minute checks: downtime costs the company 6.9 pennies a minute, while per-minute URL checks costs 1/4 of a penny.
Dot-Com Monitor
Dot-Com Monitor offers several different monitoring features (not all of which are aimed specifically at monitoring websites), including FTP and email monitoring, DNS and various ports, and even temperatures (which requires a separate hardware purchase). As for monitoring web sites, Dot-Com monitors offers several key features, including site performance (with periodic checks as fast as 1 minute), content checks (also known as Hacker checks), and even HTML form checks to ensure forms are acting properly. Dot-Com Monitor can also check certificates to ensure they are correct (PayPal was the target recently of a certificate hijacking attack), and SSL connections.Dot-Com Monitor offers a free 30-day evaluation period (which I suggest you take advantage of). It;s pricing structure is rather lengthy, and ranges from $9.99 (check every three hours) to $85.99 (check every minute) per month per URL. You can also purchase packages for combined services (for instance, monitoring 10 "tasks" every 10 minutes is $129.99 a month).
@Watch
@Watch has three levels of service available: Advanced, Pro, and Enterprise. One of the most interesting features is its regular Hacker Check (available on the Enterprise plan) that alerts you if a page changes unexpectedly (which may indicate someone has defaced your web site). As for pricing, @Watch appears to be a little more expensive then other competitors (especially SiteUptime). According to the @Watch site, "Prices start at $17.95 USD per URL per month" and you can contact their sales staff for a free quote.I'm impressed with the number of features @Watch provides - and the free trial is certainly a plus - though I'm a little wary of the price. Be sure to get a quote for your business so you can do an accurate price comparison.
Site Uptime
SiteUptime offers two available plans: a free version of their service that checks your site every thirty to sixty minutes, or a paid version that can check as often as every 2 minutes. SiteUptime maintains 4 locations (three in the US and one in London) and provides reports that include average response times based on the test location. In addition, SiteUptime can perform checks on several different protocols, including HTTPS, FTP, email, and DNS.I'm particularly impressed with the level of service provided by the free account, and the price of their Advanced account ($5 per month for 3 monitors, $10 for 6 monitors, and $2 for each additional monitor). As an example, monitoring 10 URLs - two of which every 2 minutes - would cost about $28 a month.
Website Pulse
Website Pulse has an impressive client roster and (according to their site) over 17 thousand customers. Website Pulse's monitoring service is available in two flavors: as a full-page monitor and a page performance monitor simulating the two types of web visitors (repeat vs. first-time). The performance version downloads just the header and contents of a page and measures the speed, while the full-page downloads - naturally - everything (including images and other multimedia files). Website Pulse has 16 agents around the world, including Hong Kong, New Zealand, Germany, Singapore, and other countries.Prices for Website Pulse start at $5 a month (a 5-minute interval ping to one URL from one location) and increase based on the number of URLs and the type of transaction being monitored (i.e. a PING vs. a web request). A nice feature is the instant price quote: Monitoring web performance of one URL with periodic checks every minute, from 4 locations, is $121 a month. Additional features include automatic packet traceroutes, web log archiving and others. In addition, a free 30 day trial is available.
PingALink
PingALink offers a simplified, down-to-earth monitoring and pricing schedule. The service features monitoring 9 different common protocols (including web pages, email, DNS, FTP and others) every five minutes for $21.95 a month per device. In addition, PingALink offers automatic traceroutes, performance (latency) checks, and certificate checking. As you add devices to be monitored, additional discounts may apply (20% for 20 - 49 devices, and 30% for 50+).One of the more interesting features of PingALink is its management compatability with WAP-enabled phones and PDAs (both Palm and PocketPC), which would be a useful feature for the on-the-go administrator. In addition, PingALink offers a fully-functional 30 day trial offer.
WebMetrics
WebMetrics provides a number of different monitoring features on five different monitoring plans (with monitoring intervals as often as five minutes per URL). WebMetrics maintains agents in 32 cities throughout the world (each of which is capable of monitoring your website) and call alert you via cell phone, pager, or email should a problem be detected. I'm especially interested in two features: their "instant traceroutes for connectivity errors", which attempts to pinpoint where packets are getting stuck when attempting to access your site; and their automated screen captures feature, which will take a screenshot of your page if a content error is detected (which can aid in debugging).The features of the WebMetrics monitoring service are very impressive and can be quite useful in monitoring. Unfortunately, WebMetrics doesn't publish pricing information, so you'll need to contact their sales staff for a quote (though they do offer a 30-day free trial).
The Bottom Line
Website monitoring using an outside service can be a great, unbiased check on your customer-facing services. These services can be much more helpful than roll-your-own solutions, as they are hosted by a third party, and can ensure the connection between your customer and your website is operating smoothly.
Pricing for website monitoring services can get pricey fast, especially with low-interval periodical checks. A suggestion for using these services: determine how much downtime costs on a per-minute basis for your organization, and choose your monitoring plan accordingly. You may be surprised that purchasing pricier monitoring plans can actually save your company money in the long run as you should be able to catch and fix downtime faster.
Good luck in your search for a website monitoring service, and be sure to let me know if you found this lens useful!
Pricing for website monitoring services can get pricey fast, especially with low-interval periodical checks. A suggestion for using these services: determine how much downtime costs on a per-minute basis for your organization, and choose your monitoring plan accordingly. You may be surprised that purchasing pricier monitoring plans can actually save your company money in the long run as you should be able to catch and fix downtime faster.
Good luck in your search for a website monitoring service, and be sure to let me know if you found this lens useful!
by vravi
I'm a network administrator at a small consulting firm specializing in the biomedical industry.
(more)
(more)
Explore related pages
Agent-Based Server Monitoring- This lens focuses on server monitoring with agents – small software progra...
Niche Market - Energy Drink Business- The word "Niche" simply means *"a suitable place in life". So in terms of market...
- Agentless Server Monitoring
- This lens focuses on agentless server monitoring, which users can implement to g...
Complex Event Processing- Complex Event Processing (CEP) is the use of software to analyze and control sof...
