You can do a splendid job obtaining high search engine ranking and an equally good job marketing your site. However, their work is of little value unless your site and servers are active and fully operational. Unfortunately, items such as software crashes, hardware failures, databases, hackers, viruses, worms, patches, service and Internet connection can play a role in your online success. Enter companies that specialize in email, website and server monitoring. What exactly is “e-mail server and website monitoring?

Web site monitoring refers to monitoring the operational status and performance of a website that uses HTTP or HTTPS. Similarly, the e-mail tracking refers to the monitoring, operation status and performance of SMTP servers to ensure that mail flows properly and on time. server monitoring refers to monitoring the operational status and performance of other server services such as FTP. While the difference may seem small, it is important to note the difference.

How do you monitor homework?
monitoring companies try to connect to your website or server service at regular intervals over the Internet. If the monitoring service can not connect and check the correct operation, most companies will try again on the basis of waiting time of customers and try again defined levels. If the operating state is not yet confirmed, then a list of contacts defined by the customer is notified. Following the resumption of service, most monitoring services will notify the contact list again informing them of the site or server service is running.

Determine the operating condition
Some monitoring services simply use ping to check if a log server responses and response times during the process. Some services use more sophisticated techniques such as checking web page code, database connectivity, check for keywords, and email round robin. The important point to consider is how a monitoring firm determines operational status. Ping request, for example, can verify that the server has power but does not guarantee a Web site or server services running.

Most monitoring services provide detailed statistics that can be especially useful in the verification of SLA and QoS agreements are being honored. In reviewing the inspection, make sure that the method used to determine the operating status is applicable to SLA or QoS.

What changes are needed?
Some of the security services must be executable to be installed on your server. While this practice is not widespread, does not exist. Most Internet monitoring services can check their web site or service without server agents and the associated complexity and maintenance required by installing additional software.

If you need to monitor the sites or servers that are behind a firewall, a firewall rule will need to be established. Most monitoring services will provide originating IP information upon request.

Intervals
Follow-up “interval” is simply the frequency with which checks a site or server. Most monitoring services offer packages ranging from 2 to 60 minutes. Since monitoring costs are mainly based on the monitoring interval, it is important to determine the length of downtime is unacceptable. If the site or the server is mission-critical 2-minute intervals of monitoring may be necessary to prevent loss of income. Moreover, a site or server operating a hobby should not be controlled at all.

Contact List and Methods
Most monitoring firms email a list of contacts in the event of a problem. There are four important points to consider: (1) the availability of email, (2) the number of persons to be contacted, (3) evidence of the e-mail devices, and (4) additional costs.

If you take an email enabled cell phones, pagers, PDA or other device 24 / 7 is in great shape. However, if you check your email several times a day, monitoring your server every 2 minutes does not make much sense if the monitoring service uses email notification. Take a realistic assessment of the availability of email. My solution was to allow personal e-mail my cell phone. The email address is not published and the phone is with me 24 / 7.

Most security companies offer the possibility of contact with several people. The logic is that someone on the list will be available to respond to a problem. While this approach may sound strange, it may make sense to contact your Webmaster, LAN administrator, yourself, or others, depending on the size of its staff, working hours and accommodation arrangement.

Most security companies offer the ability to send “test” messages to the list of contacts. This function is provided to ensure that everyone in your contact list is well receive notification messages.

Read the fine print. Some firms have “additional” charges for pager messages and if it exceeds a certain number of notifications per month. As everyone involved in technology knows, the unexpected happens normally, and on a daily basis. It is important to understand what you agree and level of financial commitment.

Costs
monitoring costs very greatly depending on the monitoring interval, method used to determine the status of operation and services provided. In general, prices range from free to $ 99.00 per month. packages of mission-critical server that can go fall in the $ 30.00 – $ 60.00 range per month.

Closing
perform monitoring of the security companies from outside your organization’s IT infrastructure in the same way the world has access to its servers. Doing so ensures that your servers are truly available to its visitors and elements such as the firewall is configured correctly. Depending on your business objectives, control may be a valuable resource and play a role in your online success.