Frequently Asked Questions Home > Support > FAQ: Monitoring

General

1. Does it matter which platforms my Web sites and Web servers use (for example: NT, Apache, Linux, UNIX, MAC)?
2. How do I activate the Monitoring service?
3. How does your Monitoring tool work?
4. I can monitor my own servers locally. Why do I need the Web CEO Monitoring tool?
5. I don`t need the service anymore - how do I deactivate it?
6. I occasionally receive emails from the program saying that my website is down, while it is actually working just fine. Why does this happen?
7. My Web site is hosted with an ISP. Would your monitoring services help me?
8. What does the `Monitoring` feature do ?
9. Where can I change the monitoring settings?
10. Why should I monitor my site at all?

Q: Does it matter which platforms my Web sites and Web servers use (for example: NT, Apache, Linux, UNIX, MAC)?

A: No. Neither Web CEO nor your customers need to know what your technical platform is. In fact, our service simulates the user experience. Users do not care about server platforms. Your users are mainly interested in the content of your Web pages and having a trouble-free visit to your Web site.

Q: How do I activate the Monitoring service?

A: To enable monitoring, do the following:

1. Select your site in the Project Manager, and click Monitoring Plan.

2. Choose the desired monitoring plan and click OK. If you use the free edition of Web CEO, only the free plan will be available.

3. If you haven't activated Monitoring before, the confirmation window will appear; press OK.

4. A message will appear notifying you that the confirmation letter will be sent to your mailbox; press OK.

5. A box will appear to inform you that the confirmation letter has been sent; it should arrive within 4 hours; press OK.

6. Open your mailbox. You'll see the message from Web CEO asking you to click on a link to confirm your Monitoring service activation.

Once you confirm, the Monitoring plan will be active. Go to Monitoring in Web CEO, choose your site, and choose all necessary settings on the Setup tab. You can select the services and server ports to be monitored and indicate the contacts to be notified in case of failure.

For more details on Monitoring, please refer to Help > Help Topics > Part IV. How To Maintain Your Website? > Step 12. Monitor Your Site.

Q: How does your Monitoring tool work?

A: Our company's monitoring centers are located in the US and UK. They check your site in predefined intervals (depending on the monitoring plan, the intervals vary from 5 min. to 8 hrs.). If a monitoring center fails to establish connection because of a time-out, the check is repeated in 30 seconds. If the failure persists, the monitoring center will report to the Data Center , which, in turn, marks your server as being 'down'. The Data Center will then prompt another Web CEO monitoring center to connect to the failing server.

If the other monitoring center succeeds in reaching your Web server from another continent, the event is logged, but no alert messages are sent. If your server has a 'down' status after two successive attempts by the first monitoring center, and is also unreachable from the second monitoring center, the alert status is valid and you are told. The monitoring centers also trace routes to your Web server, so you know where the Internet problems are located. You are notified when the site comes back up.

If your Web server fails to recover within 30 minutes, Web CEO will repeat the alert messages. Again, when your site is back up, an email tells you of its recovery.

Q: I can monitor my own servers locally. Why do I need the Web CEO Monitoring tool?

A: Often, your servers appear to be working just fine from your office. You can retrieve Web pages, ping the router, etc. Web CEO does more than monitoring the up/down status of your Web site and Web server. Individual services (SMTP, DNS, HTTP, etc.) are checked with their respective protocols to ensure the server is responding properly. However, most importantly, Web CEO tells you if your servers are available to your customers and the rest of the world. We perform monitoring over the Internet from different locations worldwide. You will always know that mail is deliverable, that your DNS server is resolving or your Web site is returning requests and delivering content.

Q: I don`t need the service anymore - how do I deactivate it?

A: To deactivate Monitoring please do the following:

1. Go to File > Project Manager

2. Select your site, and click `Monitoring Plan`

3. In the subscription dialog window, select `Not Active` and click `OK`

Q: I occasionally receive emails from the program saying that my website is down, while it is actually working just fine. Why does this happen?

A: You have probably enabled some tests that are not allowed by your host server. For example, you have turned on the host ping, but there is a firewall or something similar on your server that locks the host ping. Therefore, when our service tries to ping your server and fails, you receive an alert message. If this is the case, please open the 'Services' tab, uncheck the host ping service and press 'Apply'. The host ping check will be switched off and you will not get alert messages.

To avoid such situations, please press the 'Highlight services available for monitoring' button on the 'Setup' tab in Monitoring. If some ports or services are not highlighted, this means your hosting company doesn't allow access to them.

Make sure you enable only those monitoring services that you are sure your host provider allows. You can contact your hosting company for more details.

Q: My Web site is hosted with an ISP. Would your monitoring services help me?

A: Your ISP cannot check if your Web site is accessible from the outside (where your customers are). When Web CEO monitors your site, it does so remotely, simulating your customers' experience.

Q: What does the `Monitoring` feature do ?

A: Web CEO Monitoring service keeps you informed on the availability of your website and performance of its services (E-mail, FTP, HTTPS).

Web CEO monitoring centers will visit your Web site every 5-480 min. (depending on the service plan) from different parts of the world and check if your site is up and that its services are functioning. If they ever detect that your website or any related service (incoming and outgoing mail servers, HTTPS, etc.) are not available to visitors, you will get warned by e-mail with a problem description and status. The error notification describes the source of problems and helps you understand what action should be taken to resolve the problem.

You can also view real-time reports on your server performance: Connect time, Host ping, Download time, DNS resolve time, Download speed, Time-outs, Time on error, and Uptime, and perform a test on your site download speed anytime you wish.

Q: Where can I change the monitoring settings?

A: To adjust your monitoring settings, go to Features > Monitoring. Select `Highlight Services Available For Monitoring` from the Setup tab. If some ports or services are not highlighted, this means your hosting company doesn't allow access to them. For those services that are available, check the necessary services, uncheck services that you do not need, and press Apply.

Make sure you enable only those monitoring services that your host provider allows. Contact your hosting company for more details. To change the details for the contacts to be notified or the format of alert messages, select the contact name in the list and click Edit. After you make the desired changes, click OK.

Q: Why should I monitor my site at all?

A: You lose money for every minute your site is unavailable. Your potential customers only try your site once, and if it is not working, they will not wait until it is up again. They go to your competitor "just a click-away". A website that fails to deliver its content causes visitors to lose interest, wasting your time and money.

Ensuring that all the elements of a website are functioning properly is critical to maximizing a company's Web investment. When unavoidable failures do occur, minimizing the downtime lessens the impact. One of the prime advantages of a website is its ability to reach customers around the world 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A failing website just does not fulfill its full potential.