Employees are returning from vacation, the weather is (finally) cooling down and summer is coming to a close. It can feel a bit overwhelming returning to work and getting back into the swing of things. When it comes to website monitoring, there are simple steps you can take to make sure your transition is as smooth as possible. Take advantage of a few ounces of pre-vacation prevention to save on pounds of post-holiday cure.

I’m a recent entrant to the Website Monitoring game, but there is one thing I realized straight away: A Monitoring tool is only as good as it’s configured to be. Website monitoring is at its best when it’s reliable, informative, and efficient. When it gives you the information you need, when you need it, and the peace of mind to say “if I’m not being alerted, I know it’s still working.”

If you are in a room with 20 engineers and you ask, “explain what an API is to a non-technical person”, you will get 20 different analogies. An API is like the on button to your TV connecting you to a variety of shows and systems, or an API is like a waiter taking your order and serving you from the kitchen. An API is like a library card catalog, or it’s simply a tool that connects you to other tools.

Synthetic monitoring is a useful tool that ensures your site is both UP and performs well, and configuration matters. Optimized synthetic monitoring looks for necessary elements along a focused goal pathway. A poorly configured check can add precious seconds to a Transaction and trigger unwanted Global Timeout errors. Today, we’re going to do a deep dive on tips and tricks used by Uptime.com Support and Development teams to improve and optimize the Transaction checks we use everyday.