Maverick Web Creations » web site monitoring http://www.maverickwebcreations.com Thu, 09 Sep 2010 10:12:54 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Monitor Your Web Sites’ Uptime with Service Uptime http://www.maverickwebcreations.com/2008/10/27/monitor-your-web-sites-uptime-with-service-uptime.html http://www.maverickwebcreations.com/2008/10/27/monitor-your-web-sites-uptime-with-service-uptime.html#comments Mon, 27 Oct 2008 04:26:00 +0000 Vincent http://www.maverickwebcreations.com/?p=295 I personally use Service Uptime to keep track of my web sites’ availability. There are lots of web site services you can keep track of but there are the 5 that I consider the most important:

http – Status of Apache web server mysql – Status of MySQL database

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]]> I personally use Service Uptime to keep track of my web sites’ availability. There are lots of web site services you can keep track of but there are the 5 that I consider the most important:

  • http – Status of Apache web server
  • mysql – Status of MySQL database (You may be required to add Service Uptime‘s IP addresses to your web host’s white list to enable this)
  • pop – POP mail server
  • smtp – SMTP mail server (outgoing mail)
  • web page – Scans for a particular text on a web page

You may choose not to monitor all of the services but some sites do require that you monitor all of its services. For example, if you’ve got a newsletter script on a domain, it is best that you monitor the pop, smtp, http, mysql services. For extra protection, use the web page service too.

I also pay Service Uptime to send me SMS alerts when the services of my web sites are down. From my experience, it would be better to send the SMS alerts on the 2nd or 3rd failure onwards. If not, you might deplete your SMS balance really quickly with a lot of false alarms.

Won’t My Web Host Monitor My Web Host For Me?

Most of the time, they won’t do it for you – At least not for free! If you’re going to pay them to monitor your web sites, I think it would be cheaper and better for you to get your own account at Service Uptime. It is common practice to have your site down for ages without your web host alerting you because it they don’t think they have any obligation to do it for you.

Once you monitor your own web sites with Service Uptime, you will understand why 99.999999% uptime is rarely achievable.

How I Keep Track of My Monitors

I use a simple spreadsheet to keep track of my Service Uptime monitors.

Monitor Your Web Sites Uptime with Service Uptime

This helps me to organize my available credits so that I can maximize my subscription plan with Service Uptime.

Why You Should Use Service Uptime?

More often than not, the lost revenue you incur when your money-making sites are down would be greater than the amount of money you pay to Service Uptime. What is $0.16 per SMS alert and $5 a month when your $50 per day money-making web site is down for 3 days without you knowing it and without your web host doing anything about it? Do the math, it is not worth it to not monitor your web sites.

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