Monitor and Check Web Site or Server Uptime and Availability for Free

It’s very important for a website, and hence the server where the the web site is hosted to experience minimal or no downtime. Website and server uptime is important to ensure there is no lost revenue or profit, beside to ensure that interested viewers and surfers can access the website or blog without any downtime, network failure, system outage or connection failure so in the hope that they will return to visit the site in the future. Users or visitors most probably won’t return again if the site or blog is always offline and inaccessible, and it will cause great annoyance and lose of trust.

In order to minimize server downtime or maintain highest possible website uptime and availability, it’s important that once there is any server outage, network disconnection or website downtime, the problem or the error have to be remedied immediately to bring back online the web server and website or blog. In order to know or to get notified whenever the website or server is down or having access problem, website monitoring or server monitoring service is needed.

Website server monitoring is the process of testing, tracking or monitoring how end-users interact with a website, blog or web application. The main purpose of website monitoring is to ensure that site visitors are able to access their online applications, websites or blogs, and perform actions such as searching, online shopping, checking an account balance, or simply researching and reading. The aim, of course it to avoid and minimize downtime and keep the server and online applications running. The commonly used benchmarks or measured metrics are response time and availability (or uptime), and with increasing popularity, consistency and reliability. Depending on service, web site monitoring can check HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, SMTP, POP3, IMAP, DNS, Telnet, SSL, TCP and a range of other ports and protocols at regular interval from multiple server located at different geographical locations.

There are several free website monitoring services and server monitoring services available online, some with options to upgrade for advanced monitoring and alert or notification services:

1. SiteUpTime - Free account monitors 1 service from 4 monitoring location at the frequency of 30 or 60 minutes with email alerts.
2. HostTracker - Check the specified resource and service periodically according to the parameters of the monitoring set, and when an access error occur, the site will be checked by all other monitoring points; should these attempts fail, e-mail or SMS message notification of the problem will be sent.
3. Internet Vista - Light offer checks and monitors 1 server on HTTP pages every 60 minutes with email alerts.
4. EControl Portal.net - Free Internet web-based monitoring service provided to promote EControl Portal downloadable software, monitors and watches Internet services such as HTTP, HTTPS, PING, DNS, IMAP, POP3, RADIUS, NNTP, WEB CONTENT and AUTHORIZATION. When it detects that one of your internet services is not responding, it will send notifications to you at all of your designated contacts for that site.
5. Service Uptime - One monitoring service (any port or service) checked every 30 minutes from servers all over the world.
6. ServerMojo - Monitor servers web, ping, dns, mysql and more approximately every 15 minutes. Free notifications by email and via Jabber IM server any time server is not responding, or optionally by SMS notifications for a small monthly fee.
7. upPanel - Free website monitoring service that watches your websites and alert you if one becomes unavailable.
8. WebSitePulse - Monitor the performance and status of your website HTTP server for free at interval of 60 minutes with e-mail and cellular phone notifications.
9. Uptrends - Free version checks 1 website every 30 minutes and provides detailed reports and alerts by email, RSS or IM.
10. BasicState.com - Free uptime monitoring service monitors http and https services every 15 minutes for unlimited number of sites. Instant trouble alerts by email or SMS (premium fees).

There are also downloadable standalone software program that can be installed on your own PC to do ‘in-house’ monitoring and checking:

1. Nagios - Free, open source host, service and network monitoring program.
2. Zabbix - Open source solution for advanced monitoring, alerting and visualisation features.
3. Paessler IPCheck Server Monitor - Freeware edition is free for personal and non-commercial use with limitation of minimum monitoring interval of 15 minutes.
4. Website Monitoring - Runs as service on Windows NT based system, and sits in the system tray, alerts you with an icon notification and an email if your website is down or running slowly.
5. ManageEngine Website Monitoring - Monitor performance and availability of websites using HTTP and HTTPS requests, from end-user perspective. Free edition allows 5 monitors in the network.

Other paid website monitoring services, either web-based or desktop-based, are InternetSeer, Dotcom-Monitor, Global Web Monitor, Host Security, Webmetrics, WatchMouse, Still-Up, jaGuard, Alertra, Rushland, Woodstone Servers Alive, and Advanced HostMonitor.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, September 23rd, 2006 at 12:48 am and is filed under Internet Services. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.