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A Guide on NodeJS Server Monitoring & 9 Best Tools

Are you tired of the stress of managing a Node.js server and struggling to monitor its performance effectively? In this blog post, we'll highlight the importance of Node.js server monitoring and introduce you to the best tools to keep your server running smoothly and efficiently.

Introducing Alerty's NodeJS logging. With Node.js logging, you can easily monitor your server's performance and avoid unexpected problems. This tool ensures your Node.js server stays on track, delivering the best possible user experience.

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Table of Contents

What is NodeJS Server Monitoring

This type of monitoring is essential for ensuring the stability and efficiency of Node.js applications in production environments. It typically encompasses several key aspects:

Performance Metrics

Node.js server monitoring comprehensively involves tracking various performance metrics, such as:

  • CPU and memory usage
  • Response times
  • Request rates
  • Event loop delays

By monitoring these metrics, you can efficiently identify bottlenecks and optimize resource usage in your Node.js applications, enabling you to enhance overall performance and efficiency.

Error Tracking

Error tracking is an essential aspect of Node.js server monitoring, as it involves capturing and analyzing errors, exceptions, and logs generated by the Node.js server. This monitoring helps in: 

  • Diagnosing issues promptly
  • Maintaining application reliability
  • Ensuring that applications remain responsive and efficient
  • Demanding production environments

Application Performance Monitoring (APM)

Node.js APM tools provide deep insights into application performance by:

  • Measuring transaction times
  • Database query performance
  • External API calls

APM tools often offer advanced features like distributed tracing, which aid in tracking requests across different services. This allows teams to identify and resolve issues quickly to optimize application performance and user experience.

Real-Time Monitoring

Real-time monitoring provides instant visibility into server performance and application health, enabling developers and operations teams to react promptly to potential issues. By leveraging real-time monitoring tools, teams can proactively address problems as they arise, thus ensuring that applications are running smoothly without any disruptions.

Alerting and Notifications

Configuring alerts for performance thresholds or error rates is a crucial practice in Node.js server monitoring. These alerts and notifications assist teams in proactively addressing potential issues before they impact users, ensuring that applications are running smoothly and efficiently without any interruptions or downtime.

In essence, Node.js server monitoring is a vital practice that ensures applications built with Node.js remain:

  • Responsive
  • Reliable
  • Scalable in production environments

By providing valuable data and insights, monitoring tools empower teams to make informed decisions and continuous improvements to optimize application performance and user satisfaction.

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Why Is NodeJS Server Monitoring Important?

The actual value of performance monitoring comes from continual oversight of key performance factors. Those benefits include:

Quickly Detect System Issues

This point should resonate with software engineers who are familiar with stack architecture. The tiniest problem with your server OS and accompanying apps can quickly snowball into bigger issues. Problems tend to aggregate.

With a properly implemented server monitoring program, you have installed a set of eyes on the ground that gives you greater agility for quickly identifying and resolving system issues as they arise. 

Data Protection and Security

With the proliferation of cloud-based businesses, there’s likely a huge amount of customer data stored on your company’s servers. The safety and security of end-user data are of the utmost importance. If there is a loss of customer data or, worse, a data breach, the cost of IT downtime is greatly exacerbated by the social and regulatory costs involved with fixing the issue. 

The High Cost of Data Breaches

According to IBM, the average cost of a data breach in today’s market is just shy of 4 million dollars. An efficient, adequately maintained server is more secure and provides appropriate custody over sensitive client data. 

Mitigating Server Failure

Little problems add up over time. Software bugs and performance issues can create inefficiencies, such as:

Those inefficiencies, in turn, can lead to server failures. The end goal is to prevent costly server crashes. Server performance monitoring with APM tools, like Alerty, helps you head off the little problems and prevent larger outages from ever occurring. 

Comprehensive Monitoring for Modern Applications

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, and Node.js, helping developers identify and fix issues. 

  • Alerty monitors databases such as Supabase, PostgreSQL, and RDS
  • Tracking key metrics like CPU usage and memory consumption
  • It features quick incident management and Real User Monitoring (RUM) to optimize user experience
  • Its universal service monitoring covers dependencies like Stripe API, OpenAI, and 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 NodeJS logging solution today!

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Factors and Metrics To Monitor

CPU Usage

It is crucial to track how much processing power your application consumes. High CPU usage can lead to performance bottlenecks. Use the process.cpuUsage() method to track CPU usage, providing detailed user and system CPU time information. Regular monitoring helps identify inefficient code or resource-intensive operations.

Event Loop Latency

The event loop is central to NodeJS's non-blocking architecture. Monitoring event loop latency helps understand how long it takes for the event loop to process events. High latency can indicate the application is overloaded or has blocking operations, which can degrade performance and responsiveness.

Request/Response Times

Monitoring the time taken to process requests and send responses is essential for maintaining a good user experience. Tracking average response times helps identify slow endpoints and optimize them. Tools like Alerty or Prometheus can visualize this data in real time.

Error Rates

Monitoring error rates is vital for maintaining application reliability. A sudden increase in errors can indicate underlying issues needing immediate attention. Logging errors and tracking their frequency can help diagnose problems and improve application stability.

Bandwidth

Monitoring bandwidth usage ensures your application can handle incoming and outgoing traffic volume. High bandwidth usage may indicate increased user activity or potential DDoS attacks. Keeping an eye on this metric helps in scaling resources appropriately.

Garbage Collection

NodeJS uses garbage collection to free up memory. Monitoring garbage collection events and their duration provides insights into memory usage patterns. Excessive garbage collection can lead to performance issues, so understanding its impact is crucial for optimizing memory management.

Memory Usage and Leaks

Memory usage monitoring helps identify how much memory your application consumes and any memory leaks. Memory leaks increase resource consumption and lead to application crashes. Tools like Chrome DevTools can profile memory usage and detect leaks effectively.

By tracking these metrics, developers gain valuable insights into NodeJS application performance and health, allowing for timely optimizations and troubleshooting.

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Why Do Server Crashes Happen and Can You Prevent Them?

Server crashes can be disruptive and costly, typically stemming from two leading causes: 

  • Poor maintenance
  • External factors

Poor maintenance is a controllable issue and often includes problems such as:

  • Incorrectly formatted plugins
  • Internal coding errors

These issues can lead to server instability and crashes if not addressed promptly. Crucial to mitigating risks: 

  • Regular updates
  • Thorough plugin testing
  • Diligent code reviews

Mismanagement of server resources, such as memory or CPU, can exacerbate performance issues, making monitoring and optimizing resource usage essential to prevent crashes.

External factors are less within your control but can significantly impact server stability. These include:

  • Viruses
  • Malware
  • Hacking attempts can compromise server security, leading to crashes or data breaches. 

Implementing strong security measures is vital for protection against these threats, such as:

  • Antivirus software
  • Firewalls
  • Intrusion detection systems

The Impact of Traffic Overloads

Traffic overloads from sudden surges or DDoS attacks can overwhelm servers. To counteract this, scalable infrastructure and effective traffic management solutions are necessary to handle high loads and maintain performance.

Strategies for Preventing Server Crashes

Preventing server crashes involves both proactive measures and responsive strategies. Regular maintenance and updates address internal issues, while security protocols and scalable solutions manage external threats and high traffic volumes. By effectively addressing these areas, you can significantly reduce the risk of server crashes and enhance overall server reliability.

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Handling Errors In NodeJS

NodeJS provides a variety of error types to help developers better understand and handle errors. From EvalError to TypeError, several built-in error types represent different scenarios that may occur during server monitoring. For instance, if you're dealing with issues related to the expected range of a value, you might encounter a RangeError. 

On the other hand, a SyntaxError could arise from invalid JSON parsing or syntax errors in your code. Each error type serves a specific purpose and can help you resolve issues efficiently.

Error Handling Techniques: Tackling Errors Head-On

One fundamental way to manage errors in NodeJS is to use try...catch blocks. This technique is beneficial for handling synchronous errors, allowing you to catch exceptions and address them gracefully without causing a server crash. For instance, you can use a try...catch block to catch errors and log them to the console without disrupting the server's operation.

The Importance of Custom Errors

Another essential aspect of error handling is the "throw" statement, which lets you create custom errors tailored to your application's needs. This feature is beneficial for enforcing specific application rules and providing meaningful error messages. By defining custom errors, you can ensure your application behaves as expected and delivers a seamless user experience.

Understanding the Call Stack for Effective Debugging

Understanding the call stack is vital for effective debugging when dealing with errors. The call stack keeps track of function calls in your application, offering crucial insights when mistakes occur. By examining the stack trace, you can pinpoint the origin of an error and determine which function calls led to the issue.

Effective Function Naming: Building Robust Error-Resistant Code

Using clear and descriptive function names is a simple yet effective way to prevent errors and streamline the debugging process. When functions are named appropriately, it becomes easier to understand their purpose and expected behavior, reducing the chances of misuse. 

By adopting a naming convention that reflects the function's intended role, you can enhance the readability of your code and minimize errors caused by confusion or ambiguity.

Asynchronous Paradigms Like Promises: Ensuring Smooth Error Handling

NodeJS relies heavily on asynchronous programming, with Promises playing a central role in this paradigm. Understanding the different states of Promises is crucial for effective error management. 

Promises can be in one of three states:

  • Pending
  • Fulfilled
  • Rejected

By leveraging Promises and their associated methods like ".then()" and ".catch()", you can handle errors gracefully and ensure excellent error management in your NodeJS applications.

Incorporating these error-handling strategies into your NodeJS projects can significantly enhance the stability and reliability of your server applications. 

Building Robust Node.js Applications

  • Leverage built-in error types
  • Implement error-handling techniques
  • Adopt practical function naming practices
  • Master asynchronous paradigms like Promises

Following these practices can create error-resistant Node.js applications that deliver exceptional user experiences.

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9 Best NodeJS Server Monitoring Tools for Fast and Comprehensive Monitoring

1. Alerty

Alerty is a cloud monitoring service for developers and early-stage startups. It offers application performance monitoring, database monitoring, and incident management. 

Key Features

  • Supports technologies like Next.js, React, Vue, and Node.js, aiding in issue identification and resolution
  • Monitors databases such as Supabase, PostgreSQL, and RDS, tracking key metrics like CPU usage and memory consumption
  • Includes quick incident management and Real User Monitoring (RUM) to enhance user experience
  • Provides Universal Service Monitoring for dependencies like Stripe API, OpenAI, and Vercel

Advantages of Using Alerty

  • Utilizes AI to simplify setup
  • Provides a cost-effective solution compared to competitors
  • Designed for ease of use with quick setup
  • Integrates with tools like Sentry
  • Ideal for developers and small teams needing efficient, affordable monitoring

Catch issues before they affect your users with Alerty's NodeJS logging tool!

2. PM2

PM2 is a powerful instrument for running Node applications, but it is also very good at maintaining and monitoring standalone applications in production servers. PM2 is deployed via npm and allows for monitoring any Node.js application via CLI. 

Features

  • Monitors hardware and performance metrics
  • Tracks bugs and exceptions
  • Receives alerts via the PM2 Monitoring Dashboard
  • Offers an enterprise-suitable Plus solution

3. Nagios

Nagios is recognized as one of the top solutions for monitoring Node.js servers in various ways. Server monitoring is made easy in Nagios because it allows you to monitor your servers with and without agents. With over 3500 different add-ons available, the community at the Nagios Exchange has yet to leave any stone unturned. 

Nagios can also monitor:

  • Windows servers
  • Linux servers
  • Unix servers
  • Solaris
  • AIX
  • HP-UX
  • Mac OS/X
  • And more

4. Express Status Monitor

Express.js is the de-facto framework of choice for Node.js developers. Express Status Monitor is a straightforward, self-hosted module you add to your Express server. It exposes a /status route that reports real-time server metrics with the help of Socket.io and Chart.js.

5. New Relic

New Relic offers a Node.js quickstart for installing pre-configured observability solutions, including monitors for Apdex and CPU utilization and visualizes these metrics in informative dashboards, including slowest transactions or throughput. 

New Relic also offers:

  • Service Maps
  • Error Analytics
  • code-level analysis
  • Real-time insights

6. Prometheus

Prometheus is a prominent open-source, community-powered APM developed at SoundCloud in 2012. Node.js developers can find it under the Apache 2 License on GitHub. Notable features include:

  • Excellent visualization
  • Precise alerting
  • Many integrations
  • Many client libraries
  • Efficient storage

7. Clinic.js

Clinic.js includes three tools to help diagnose and pinpoint performance issues in Node.js applications. It’s surprisingly easy to use. All you need to do is install the module from npm and run it. This will generate reports for you that make troubleshooting much more accessible.

8. Sentry.io

Sentry is a Node error and performance monitoring tool capable of discovering and monitoring:

  • Performance-related issues
  • Errors
  • Bottlenecks

It supports Node.js, Express, and KOA with SDKs for instrumentation. Sentry identifies issues, observes the application with end-to-end distributed tracing, and performs an efficient root-cause analysis. 

9. Sematext

Sematext is a Node.js tool that provides a platform for:

  • Log Analytics
  • Infrastructure Management
  • Performance Monitoring

It offers real-time analysis of:

  • Application
  • Infrastructure
  • Cloud service logs
  • Performance metrics

Sematext provides a centralized area for storing and analyzing log data, making it easier for teams to identify and fix problems.

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Catch Issues Before They Affect Your Users With Alerty's NodeJS Logging Tool

Are you looking for a reliable monitoring service tailored to NodeJS applications and more? Alerty is just the perfect tool for you. This cloud-monitoring service caters to developers and early-stage startups, offering various application performance monitoring, database monitoring, and incident management features. 

Alerty's Scope and Functionality

Alerty supports various technologies, including NextJS, React, Vue, and Node.js. It meticulously tracks key metrics such as CPU usage and memory consumption on databases like Supabase, PostgreSQL, and RDS. With its capacity to monitor dependencies like Stripe API, OpenAI, and Vercel, Alerty ensures a comprehensive view of your ecosystem.

Quick Setup and Ease of Use

The best part? Alerty is designed with user-friendliness in mind. It provides quick setup features and seamless integration with tools like Sentry, making monitoring a breeze. Small teams and developers will find it ideal for monitoring needs, ensuring that issues are promptly identified and resolved before they impact end-users.

Innovative Technology

Alerty leverages AI to simplify setup processes, offering a cost-effective solution compared to its competitors. The monitoring capabilities are top-notch, and the Real User Monitoring (RUM) feature ensures a smooth user experience. Say goodbye to endless hours spent troubleshooting issues - Alerty has covered you.

Stay ahead of the game with Alerty's NodeJS logging tool. Start monitoring your applications effectively today!

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