Check Recommendations for API and Transaction Checks

With Uptime.com, users can create multiple checks designed for a catch-all system that sends out alerts the moment any hiccup is detected. The minimum interval that these checks can be run is dependent on the check and subscription type. For a detailed breakdown of API and Transaction checks and their minimum intervals, please see the Pricing page.

To create optimal downtime alerting, users should create a tiered check alerting system that pings infrastructure at various intervals. The end result is a constant monitoring system reviewing the most important elements of infrastructure, with specific technical data as soon as possible once an outage occurs.

Table of Contents

• Improving Synthetic Monitoring Response Time
• Add One-Minute Interval HTTPS Checks for Optimal Synthetic Monitoring
• Configure Optional HTTPS Check Parameters
• Is My Monitoring System Optimized?

API and Transaction Check Recommendations At A Glance

• Adding One-Minute Interval HTTPS checks will make synthetic monitoring more optimal.

• Using optional HTTPS parameters can expand on the functionality of an HTTPS Check.

• Configure SSL & DNS once per day checks to alert you about easily avoidable outages.

This brief guide suggests that users create at minimum the following types of checks when using transaction and API monitoring:

• HTTPS - One-minute intervals designed to catch outages before a Transaction Check’s five-minute interval or the three-minute interval of an API check.
• SSL & DNS - Once per day checks to alert administrators of easily avoidable outages. 

The key to improving alert data, and getting real-time alerts of outages, is to configure checks that ping your site at various intervals and for various reasons. We outline some ideas in this brief guide.

Improving Synthetic Monitoring Response Time

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Transaction checks are designed to follow a set of instructions at a minimum of 5-minute intervals, while API checks can run at one-minute intervals (depending on plan), but are defaulted to three-minute intervals. A transaction check will not catch an outage that occurs between the intervals you’ve told it to monitor. Downtime can occur between checks, creating a kind of hole in your monitoring system where outages can occur for minutes at a time without Uptime.com issuing an alert.

Add One-Minute Interval HTTPS Checks for Optimal Synthetic Monitoring

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Most users configure an HTTPS check for their homepage, but don’t monitor other URLs that are relevant to a Transaction Check. Some URLs to check include:

• The homepage of your website
• The URL where your Transaction Check begins
• Related URLs, such as “Pricing”, “Contact”, or “Service” pages

Configure Optional HTTPS Check Parameters

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HTTPS checks can also contain HTTP POST data, send HTTP headers, or look for an expected string of data. Be sure to configure these optional parameters to expand the functionality of an HTTPS check and provide better, more accurate details when an outage occurs.    

Here are a few other one-minute interval checks that should run alongside Transaction and API checks for maximum coverage:

• RUM to track the user experience, and develop a history of real user data
• Ping ICMP for your own servers, or servers outside your network critical to operations

Is My Monitoring System Optimized?

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The moment you create a transaction check, run through this simple litmus test:

• Ensure rapid alerting of downtime with a mix of one-minute interval checks
• Monitor other URLs important to the user experience
• Collect actual user data wherever possible
• Ping related infrastructure for uptime

Simply put: how can you most comprehensively measure the downtime for every facet of your transaction check?