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A Complete Guide On How To Monitor A Web Server

When it comes to application performance monitoring, understanding how to monitor web servers is crucial. Imagine you have a web server that suddenly slows down, causing your users to experience delays in accessing your site. Understanding how to monitor a web server performance is essential in this scenario. This article will equip you with valuable insights on effectively monitoring web servers and their performance, allowing you to ensure your site runs smoothly and efficiently.

Alerty's free APM solution is an invaluable tool for achieving your goal of mastering the art of monitoring web servers and their performance. With this tool, you can gather the data you need to optimize your server's performance seamlessly.

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Table of Contents

What are Web Servers?

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A web server is a software and hardware system that responds to client requests using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and other protocols. When a user requests the World Wide Web, the web server acts like a superhero, processing the request and delivering the requested web pages. These web pages typically contain HTML documents, images, stylesheets, and scripts. 

The Hardware and Software Behind Web Servers

Web server hardware facilitates data exchange with other connected devices, enabling the transfer of essential information. Web server software controls user access to hosted files, acting as the gatekeeper for the internet. This process represents the classic client/server model, where users interact with a central server to access web content. 

Foundation of Web Hosting

All computers hosting websites must deploy web server software to provide the necessary infrastructure for hosting websites and web applications.

Why Web Servers Matter

Web servers are crucial in web hosting, providing the infrastructure to host data for websites and web applications. Without these servers, the web could not function as we know it, and the digital world would lack the vibrant and interconnected landscape it currently offers. Web servers are the unsung web heroes, quietly and efficiently processing requests and delivering the content users crave.

Web Servers and the Internet's Backbone

Web servers are the backbone of the Internet, allowing information to flow freely and enabling users to navigate its complexities easily. During your next interaction with a website, it is essential to acknowledge the critical role web servers play. These servers function tirelessly in the background, facilitating the timely and efficient delivery of the information you seek.

 

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What are the Most Popular Web Servers?

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Apache

The Apache web server, also known as Apache HTTP Server, is free and open-source. It was released in 1995 and is developed and maintained by the Apache Software Foundation (ASF). Apache is highly flexible and customizable; functionalities can be easily turned on and off. 

It offers:

  • Security
  • Authentication
  • Caching
  • URL rewriting modules

Apache also allows custom server configurations using the .htaccess file. It supports many applications, including:

  • CMS
  • ERP
  • Web frameworks
  • Programming languages

According to W3Techs, 31.5% of web servers run Apache.

Nginx

Nginx (pronounced engine-x) is an open-source web server. It was released in 2004 and has become one of the most used web servers. Nginx is a complete solution for managing high-traffic websites. Many high-visibility websites and applications use the Nginx web server. These include:

  • WordPress 
  • Quora

Its great success lies in its ability to tackle the c10k problem, which prevents some web servers from managing more than 10,000 simultaneous connections. It has two different versions: 

  • OSS Nginx 
  • Nginx Plus

According to W3Techs, 33.5% of web servers run Nginx.

Microsoft IIS

Microsoft Internet Information Services is a web server released by Microsoft in 1995. It was developed for Windows NT. Its modular architecture allows easy addition and removal of extensions and modules. It also includes:

  • Multiple built-in security features 
  • Authentication mechanisms

Microsoft IIS is often used to host ASP.NET web applications and static sites. According to W3Techs, 6% of web servers run Microsoft IIS.

Alerty's Cloud Monitoring Suite

Alerty is a cloud monitoring service for developers and early-stage startups, offering:

  • Application performance monitoring
  • Database monitoring
  • Incident management

It supports technologies that help developers identify and fix issues. These include:

  • Nextjs
  • React
  • Vue
  • Node.js

Comprehensive Database Monitoring

Alerty monitors databases such as

  • Supabase
  • PostgreSQL
  • RDS

These databases track key metrics like:

  • CPU usage 
  • Memory consumption

It features quick incident management and Real User Monitoring (RUM) to optimize user experience. 

Alerty's Streamlined Monitoring with Free APM

Alerty’s Universal Service Monitoring covers dependencies like:

  • Stripe API
  • OpenAI
  • Vercel

Alerty uses AI to simplify setup, providing a cost-effective solution compared to competitors. It is designed for ease of use, allowing quick setup, and integrates with tools like Sentry, making it ideal for developers and small teams needing efficient, affordable monitoring. 

Today, catch issues before they affect your users with Alerty's free APM solution!

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What is Web Server Monitoring?

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Web server monitoring, as the name suggests, is the process of tracking and analyzing various metrics related to the health and performance of web servers. Like any other server, web servers require monitoring to ensure they function correctly and efficiently.

Health-related metrics of a web server include:

  • CPU usage
  • Hard disk space
  • Web server application status
  • SSL/TLS certificates

Key Web Server Metrics

Monitoring these metrics helps identify potential issues or bottlenecks that could affect the server's performance and availability.

Performance-related metrics of a web server include:

  • Active connections
  • Incoming requests
  • Load time
  • Response time

Monitoring these metrics helps ensure the web server can handle the incoming traffic effectively and efficiently.

Monitoring Server Efficiency

By continuously monitoring web server health and performance metrics, organizations can proactively identify and address issues before they impact the end-user experience. This proactive approach helps ensure that web servers are always:

  • Available
  • Responsive
  • Secure

It provides a seamless experience to users accessing websites hosted on these servers.

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Why is it Important To Monitor Web Servers?

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Web servers provide several important functions. This means there’s much to keep track of, including:

  • Connections to clients and other servers on the network
  • Requests for host resources such as CPU, RAM, and disk access
  • Traffic being transferred to and from the server at any given time
  • Availability of other web servers for proxying requests

Since web servers handle user requests for content, their performance has an immediate and noticeable impact on the user experience. If your web servers are slow, users will abandon your service for a competitor’s. This also applies to large sites. 

Beyond Uptime

The BBC found that for every one-second increase in page load time, 10% of their users left. Monitoring will alert you to any errors or failures that could result in downtime.

Monitoring has a second benefit for IT environments: automation. High-availability environments often optimize throughput with load balancing, where requests are delegated across multiple web servers rather than a single one. A separate load-balancing service:

  • Receives incoming requests
  • Checks the web servers' availability behind it
  • Proxies the request to an available server

To do this, the load balancer must know each web server’s current load and availability to handle new requests.

Monitoring helps track the popularity and growth of:

  • Websites 
  • Web applications

Traffic and connection metrics offer direct insight into site activity, including the number of active users and the duration of each session. This data is precious in a world where more users use ad blockers, preventing tracking through JavaScript. This data can help you develop plans for:

  • Scaling your website
  • Optimizing your application
  • Deploying other services to support the increased demand

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How to Monitor a Web Server

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The general concept behind server monitoring isn’t very complicated. It’s relatively straightforward. It involves regularly collecting and analyzing data to ensure your server is fulfilling its intended purpose because it’s functioning optimally.

In practice, server monitoring isn't a one-size-fits-all proposition. This is mainly because a considerable variety of servers exist today. These servers include:

  • Physical
  • Virtual
  • Cloud-based
  • Database servers
  • Web
  • Print
  • Mail servers

Leveraging Database Monitoring for Holistic Quality Assurance

For QA teams looking to optimize server performance, understanding the intricacies of database management platforms can provide a more holistic approach to quality assurance.

Without a silver bullet that magically provides similar monitoring services across these broad-based servers, the best alternative is to know what to monitor and adapt a template of best practices.

Monitoring Web Servers

When monitoring a web server, keeping a close eye on its performance is vital. Performance is crucial as it directly affects the web server's user experience. Here are some key aspects to consider when monitoring a web server:

Server Load

Checking the server load helps determine how the server is handling traffic. High server loads can:

  • Cause performance issues 
  • Slow the server's response time

Monitoring the server load over time will help better understand how the server performs under different conditions.

Network Traffic

Monitoring network traffic is essential as it helps identify bandwidth issues and potential bottlenecks. By monitoring network traffic, you can ensure the server has enough bandwidth to handle incoming requests efficiently.

Server Response Time

Server response time is critical for ensuring a smooth user experience. Slow response times can lead to frustrated users and potential traffic loss. Monitoring server response times helps identify underlying issues that impact performance.

Error Rates

Monitoring error rates is crucial for identifying issues before they impact users. By keeping track of error rates, you can quickly address any problems that arise and ensure a seamless user experience.

Logs and Metrics

Regularly reviewing server logs and collecting performance metrics can provide valuable insights into the server's health. By analyzing logs and metrics, you can identify patterns and potential issues before they impact users.

By monitoring these critical aspects of a web server, you can ensure optimal performance and reliability for users. Monitoring a web server is an ongoing process that requires constant vigilance to ensure the server performs at its best.

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What to Monitor on Web Servers

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There are dozens of web servers, but the two most popular are Apache and NGINX. Irrespective of the web server in use, apart from the host metrics on which the web server is hosted like:

  • Uptime
  • CPU Usage
  • Memory Usage
  • Cache
  • Threads  

You will need to monitor metrics related to the Web server connections themselves, and some of the more important ones are:

Request Rate

The number of requests that the server receives over time. High request rates indicate a recent increase in traffic.

Response Rate/Error codes

The server can handle and respond to the number of requests over time and monitor any errors in response.

Response Rime

The time to send a response to a request. High response times could indicate problems with the: 

  • Web server
  • Host
  • Website resources, and result in frustrated users

Response Size / Bandwidth

The amount of data delivered with each response (typically measured in bytes). Smaller responses use less network bandwidth and load faster for users, especially over limited and mobile connections.

Active Connections

The number of requests currently being fulfilled. Too many active connections can exhaust the host’s available network ports, preventing new users from connecting.

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Challenges of Monitoring Web Servers

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The biggest challenge of web server monitoring is providing a good customer experience. When used correctly, the proper monitoring tool can help overcome this challenge. You can use web server monitoring to examine the big picture and the details. 

The big picture considers whether the service is up and running and the overall loads on the different hardware and software components. Examining the details allows you to analyze specific metrics that provide an accurate snapshot of the user experience. If the monitoring tool tells you the service is down, you know all users are affected. 

Identifying Causes of Slow Load Times

You can then investigate possible root causes and work to resolve the issue. If the service is available and you notice an alarm indicating that a certain number of users suffer from high load times, your approach would be different. The problem could be caused by:

  • A database issue
  • Multiple web applications hosted on the same web server
  • Excessive load on one application

You can use monitoring tools to dig deeper to ascertain the root cause to resolve the issue. The most critical aspect of overcoming this challenge is selecting the right server monitoring tool that provides visibility into every performance aspect.

Comprehensive Monitoring Solutions

Alerty is a trustworthy cloud monitoring service that offers:

  • Application performance monitoring
  • Database monitoring
  • Incident management

It supports technologies like:

  • NextJS
  • React
  • Vue
  • Node.js

Get Started with Alerty’s Free APM

Alerty utilizes AI to simplify setup, providing a cost-effective solution compared to competitors. Monitoring applications with Alerty can help businesses manage their online services better, ensuring seamless operations and enhanced user experience.

Upgrade your web application monitoring with Alerty’s free APM solution today and keep your online services running at peak performance!

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5 Best Practices for Server Monitoring

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1. Establish a Baseline

Setting a baseline is a crucial step in web server monitoring. A baseline is a reference point for the typical behavior of critical metrics, such as:

  • CPU utilization 
  • Disk latencies. 

Establishing a baseline allows you to identify anomalies in server performance as they occur quickly. Monitoring tools rely on well-defined baselines to effectively spot deviations from the norm. Most automated monitoring tools have built-in baseline capabilities, making tracking server performance over time easier and identifying potential performance issues before they escalate.

2. Track Key Metrics

Whether you operate a Linux or Windows server, tracking key metrics specific to your server's environment is essential. Tracking key metrics simplifies the detection and resolution of server performance issues. It also facilitates actionable monitoring, enabling you to make informed decisions based on data-driven insights. 

Some key server metrics to track include:

  • CPU usage
  • Memory usage
  • Disk I/O
  • Network traffic
  • Server uptime

3. Use Effective Monitoring Tools

Modern web server monitoring solutions require sophisticated monitoring software to effectively gather and present server resource utilization metrics. These tools automate the monitoring process and leverage AI technology to detect meaningful patterns in the data collected.

Advanced monitoring tools allow you to monitor your server environment and identify real-time performance issues comprehensively. By leveraging monitoring solutions, you can avoid potential server performance problems and ensure optimal performance for your web applications.

4. Monitor Consistently

Consistency is vital when monitoring your web server performance. Monitoring your server sporadically can lead to missed performance issues and hinder your ability to establish an accurate performance baseline. 

Regular monitoring during peak business hours and critical operations, such as backups, is essential to ensure your server performs optimally. By monitoring consistently, you can identify:

  • Performance trends
  • Anomalies
  • Potential issues early on

5. Set Up Notifications and Reports

Setting up notifications and reports is essential to effectively managing your web server performance. Alerts notify system administrators when key metrics exceed specified thresholds, allowing them to take immediate action to address performance issues. 

Reports collate historical data on server performance, enabling you to analyze trends, identify recurring issues, and make informed decisions to optimize server performance. By leveraging notifications and reports, you can stay informed about your server's performance and take proactive steps to maintain optimal performance levels.

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Related Reading

Catch Issues Before They Affect Your Users with Alerty's Free APM Solution

Alerty is a cloud monitoring service for developers and early-stage startups, offering:

  • Application performance monitoring
  • Database monitoring
  • Incident management

It supports technologies like:

  • NextJS
  • React
  • Vue
  • Node.js

Database Performance Monitoring

Alerty monitors databases such as:

  • Supabase
  • PostgreSQL
  • RDS

These databases track key metrics like:

  • CPU usage 
  • Memory consumption

Enhanced User Experience & Streamlined Management

It features quick incident management and Real User Monitoring (RUM) to optimize user experience. Its Universal Service Monitoring covers dependencies like:

  • Stripe API
  • OpenAI
  • Vercel

Alerty uses AI to simplify setup, providing a cost-effective solution compared to competitors. It is designed for ease of use, allowing quick setup, and integrates with tools like Sentry, making it ideal for developers and small teams needing efficient, affordable monitoring.

Catch issues before they affect your users with Alerty's free APM solution today!

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