We had the privilege of presenting a talk on performance monitoring to  800+ of the world’s top online retail IT experts at the renowned Internet Retailer – Website Design and Usability Conference in Orlando, Florida on February 15, 2012  alongside Matt Hoenck, the IT Director at Thymes.com. BTW,  Matt is a great guy and a top-gun online retail IT performance professional who uses Dotcom-Monitor.

Matt has used Dotcom-Monitor for several years and did a great job describing how he used UserView Monitoring to avoid website slowdowns due to third-party code snippet issues.

For an article recapping the basics of the presentations (and a nice pic of Matt) go here: http://www.internetretailer.com/2012/02/15/irwd-2012-balancing-beauty-and-speed

To try-out the performance monitoring tools that Matt describes go here:

http://uv.dotcom-monitor.com/web-application-performance-monitoring/

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Level3 and AT&T appear to be having ongoing issues over the last couple days .  The outage you have experienced is centered around one of their route-servers located in the DFW area.  We are continuing to track the issue and continuing to track the resolution.  The Level3 Communications master case number is 40976066

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Some Dotcom-Monitor clients  may have experienced alerts due to a Level3 connectivity issue. For details see the statement below from Level3 explaining the event and the resolution.

“Much of the internet connectivity in and to the Continental United States was degraded by an outage within the Level3 Communications backbone that began at approximately 17:22 1 August 2011 UTC.  The impact of this event was felt not only on the Level3 backbone but also on other carriers as providers shifted large amounts of traffic that would have normally transited the Level3 network onto alternate network paths, causing increased latency and congestion and packet loss.

Many providers who utilize Level3 Communications for transport services, both telephone and IP,  were also impacted as these transport services utilize the same converged backbone as the Level3 transit product.

The Level3 Communications master case number is 40976066.

The Level3 Communications official statements regarding the unscheduled network event are:

8/1/11 7:12:56 PM GMT The IP NOC reports that the network equipment self restored, resolving the routing issue and restoring services at approximately 17:55 GMT. The IP NOC states that they will continue to work with Level 3 OPS Engineers and the equipment vendor to isolate the root cause of the service interruption. The Level 3 TSC has confirmed that all customer services have been restored and the IP NOC will continue to monitor for stability.

8/1/11 6:29:26 PM GMT The IP NOC reports that a routing issue failure between Dallas, TX and Los Angeles, CA is impacting IP services in multiple markets. The IP NOC has engaged the equipment vendor, as well as Level 3 OPS Engineers and continues to investigate to isolate the issue at this time.”

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External Monitoring for IPv6-Enabled Services

As highlighted by the upcoming IPv6 Day on June 8, the need for a new Internet Protocol (IP) is well understood and accepted in the networking industry.

Requirements for more address space, simpler address design and handling at the IP layer, better Quality of Service (QoS) support, greater security, and an increasing number of media types and Internet-capable devices have all contributed to drive the development of Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).

What is less well understood certainly are aspects of how external monitoring helps  identify key challenges for businesses using IPv6, specific areas for IPv6 performance monitoring, and the benefits of external IPv6 performance monitoring. Firstly, for brevity sake some of the basic aspects of IPv6-related monitoring are noted in the grid below. After the grid is a longer, detailed note on aspects of IPv6 as related to external monitoring.

Introduction

IPv4, the current version of IP deployed worldwide, has proven remarkably robust, easy to implement, and interoperable with a wide range of protocols and applications. But, due to the Internet’s current scale and complexity, the ongoing explosive growth of the Internet and Internet services exposed serious deficiencies in IPv4. IPv6 is designed to specifically address these deficiencies, enabling further Internet growth and development.

IPv6 Features

 New standardized header format

 Larger address space

 Multicast and any cast

 Stateless address configuration

 Built-in security

 Better support for QoS

 Extensibility

How is IPv6 better than IPv4?

IPv6 has a number of features that overcome the limitations of IPv4. A significant improvement is that the additional addresses remove the need for Network Address Translation (NAT). NAT has extended the life of IPv4 by allowing multiple devices to sit behind a router and share the same globally unique IP address. However, NAT also introduced a number of undesirable side effects, including specific difficulties in network troubleshooting, network administration, and the implementation of security protocols such as Internet Protocol Security (IPSec). IPv6 removes the need for NAT, allowing flawless and transparent end-to-end security.

Benefits of IPv6

 Improved efficiency in routing and packet handling

 Support for auto configuration and plug and play

 Support for embedded IPSec

 Enhanced support for Mobile IP and mobile computing devices

 Elimination of the need for NAT

 Support for widely deployed routing protocols

 Increased number of multicast addresses, and improved support for multicast

Why is IPv6 Performance Monitoring needed?

As IPv6 is becoming the essential backbone protocol for next-generation networking, native IPv6 performance monitoring is essential to determine whether performance issues are originating in the transition phase to IPv6, or in the end-to-end IPv6 environment.

IPv6 websites can be accessed using dual stacks, tunneling and protocol translation, but IPv6 performance monitoring is essential to determine whether performance issues are originating in the end-to-end IPv6 environment. Companies that have deployed IPv6 websites must utilize native IPv6 performance monitoring to isolate Service-Level Agreement (SLA) issues for these sites as IPv4 monitoring alone cannot isolate IPv6 QoS issues.

External IPv6 Performance Monitoring Benefits

To prevent the aforementioned problems, some companies hire a full-time, onsite professional to regularly perform diagnostics and monitoring on network systems. Safer than leaving the health of critical systems unmonitored and data unmaintained, the costs, however, are sometimes a painful liability.

The cost of a full-time network professional is high, especially when the benefits, taxes, cost of necessary equipment and software to perform the job, etc…is factored into the cost along with salary. Often, companies do not have large enough network systems to fully occupy a full-time network employee, or to justify the added cost.

In short, this method is risky and problematic, as it fails to address the specific IPv6 monitoring needs of the business in a cost-effective and targeted manner.  For many companies working with an external IPv6 performance monitoring service provider is an excellent option.

IPv6 performance management and SLA monitoring becomes more important for businesses and organizations deploying IPv6 websites, while at the same time it is more complicated due to the co-existence of IPv4 and IPv6, the exponential size of IPv6 addressing and routing, and the lack of a killer application to drive wide-scale and accelerated IPv6 deployment.

While adding a network employee is an option,  organizations and business opting for the external performance monitoring services  avoid the long-term costs of added resources,  and hiring for the IPv6 expertise needed to monitor the network system.

Moreover the services offered external IPv6 performance monitoring providers are targeted and on-demand, including:

 A proven, experienced team of IPv6 performance monitoring professionals working behind the scenes

 Specific equipment and software tools needed to monitor IPv6 and maintain the network

 Regular maintenance and performance tuning, alarms

 Fast response times in the event of a system issue

 Multi-tiered, on-demand, affordable services customized to a company’s size and needs

 Less downtime/revenue loss due to network problems

 The peace of mind that comes with knowing the IPv6 monitoring system was specifically designed for its purpose

With the ongoing switch to IPv6 occurring, most network professionals recognize the need to properly backup, maintain, and perform the network system that organizations are dependent on. However, these same network professionals are also hampered by the time, complexity, and high costs required to both maintain incumbent IT systems and address challenges brought by new technologies, like IPv6. Adding additional onsite personnel to address IPv6 issues is a costly approach. Therefore, having an external IPv6 performance monitoring service is an efficient and cost-effective option for many organizations and businesses.

IPv6 Performance Monitoring Challenges

While the benefits of IPv6 are apparent, performance management will becomes inherently more difficult in part because a single IPv6 subnet is as large as the entire Internet today.

Many performance monitoring solutions that worked for IPv4, will not work with IPv6. As with IPv4, IPv6 QoS is implemented at Layer 2 and Layer 3 of the TCP/IP stack.

A number of passive network management vendors support IPv6, but while these tools may comply with IPv6, some may not include the evolving feature set needed for IPv6 support. Also, passive monitoring is unlikely to properly detect IPv6 performance issues experienced by an end user, or a web-enabled business. And for many businesses deploying IPv6 the end user experience is the most critical element of QoS. Finally, some external performance monitoring services are not IPv6-enabled, in which case, their monitoring will not detect IPv6-related website, nor network issues.

Benefits of monitoring IPv6

There are several reasons to actively monitor IPv6 websites in a native environment:

 Because there’s a gap between IPv6 capabilities and current network management tools, active monitoring is essential.

 As with any new technology, there is the potential for flaws, which may impact uptime and performance.

 IPv6 will lead to larger networks that directly address more network devices, increasing overall system complexity and potential for errors.

 IPv6 end-to-end security features, while improving security, will make it harder to analyze network traffic.

Where does Dotcom-Monitor fit in?

Businesses that adapt IPv6 can monitor and report on the availability and performance of their IPv6-enabled websites and web applications by using Dotcom-MonitorIPv6 Performance Monitoring. IPv6 vastly expands address and routing capabilities. Dotcom-Monitor IPv6 Performance Monitoring provides IPv6 network professionals with access to the necessary tools to monitor all aspects of their systems during their transition to IPv6.

As with all Dotcom-Monitor services, IPv6 Performance Monitoring is simple to use and easy to access, which enables users to custom-configure notification and escalation parameters, 1-minute, 3, 5, 10 15-minute monitoring frequencies, as well as the automated performance alerts sent via email, SMS, phone etc. Full reporting functionality with real-time dashboards, water-fall charts and interactive drill-down reports are also included in the user’s account.

Products Features

 Monitors can be set up to target IPv4, IPv6, or both

 Advanced DNS monitoring

 Detailed Root Cause Analysis, including automated webpage snapshots and trace-routes

 Automated alerting via email, SMS, Phone etc.

 Extensive real-time reporting

 Transaction monitoring for IPv6 sites – to verify login pages and shopping carts etc

 Access to IPv6 enabled diagnostic tools for ping, trace route and site checks.

Conclusion

With the advent of extensive IPv6 usage a certainty, an active external IPv6 performance monitoring service is critical. With ongoing tests and monitoring network and website managers will have a view into end-user connectivity related to IPv6 issues and the ability to receive instant notifications whenever a problem occurs resulting in reduced impacts to company revenues and reputation, as well as peak performance.

Useful Links

For free IPv6 instant tests conducted from worldwide locations:

Pings, here

Trace-routes, here

To try a free trial monitoring account http://tinyurl.com/monitor-trial

For more information about Dotcom-Monitor see http://www.dotcom-monitor.com/

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Tweet this:

I’d like to win a year of Dotcom-Monitor website monitoring & application monitoring @dotcom_monitor #IRCE Booth 1827 http://wp.me/p1070N-3S

The more tweets, the more chances to win….. 1-year of Dotcom-Monitor  services – either (you pick) UserView Monitoring (Standard I package), a browser driven Application Monitoring service, or ServerView Monitoring (Standard I package). The Twitter campaign is as part of Dotcom-Monitor’s exhibiting activities (Booth 1827) at the 2011 Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition (IRCE), June 13-17 . Dotcom-Monitor automatically monitors website applications and notifies users when errors occur, sends diagnostic information, and provides real-time and detailed reporting. To enter the competition, just (re)tweet the following:

I’d like to win a year of Dotcom-Monitor website monitoring & application monitoring @dotcom_monitor #IRCE Booth 1827 http://wp.me/p1070N-3S

You can also receive a fully-functional free trial version of the Dotcom-Monitor application and website monitoring to try out. Since 1998, Dotcom-Monitor has provided a true on-demand service, for website and internet application and infrastructure monitoring.

Winner will be chosen and awarded the service via Twitter during the IRCE event June 14-17, 2011 so good luck!

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Dotcom-Monitor is currently operating normally.

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IPv6 Monitoring

Introduction

Dotcom-Monitor’s IPv6 Monitoring Network

Agents with IPv6 address have native IPv6 connectivity. Agents with “Teredo” tunnel through Teredo brokers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teredo_tunneling

The switch to IPv6 is jumping to light speed.  On June 8, 2011 several large organizations, including Google, Yahoo, and Facebook will run a comprehensive test for switching to IPv6. If all goes well most companies will start making the switch. However, the advent of IPV6 is not without problems and the performance monitoring solutions that worked for IPv4, will not work with IPv6.

Benefits of Native IPv6 Monitoring

Moreover, there are several other reasons to actively monitor IPv6 websites in a native environment:

• Because there’s a gap between IPv6 capabilities and current network management tools, active monitoring is essential.
• As with any new technology, there is the potential for flaws, which may impact uptime and performance.
• IPv6 will lead to larger networks that directly address more network devices, increasing the overall complexity.
• IPv6 end-to-end security features, while improving security, will make it harder to analyze network traffic.

IPv6 Header Challenges

While IPv4 is a best-effort service where all packets are treated equally; IPv6 implements quality-of-service (QOS) by classifying IP packets using an 8-bit traffic class field and a 20-bit flow label field in the header. With the flow label in place, transit routers will not need to open the inner packet to identify the flow. This will enhance flow identification when encryption is used.

However, though IPv6 web sites can be accessed using dual stacks, tunneling and protocol translation, native IPv6 performance monitoring is essential to determine whether performance issues are originating in the end-to-end IPv6 environment. Therefore, companies that have deployed IPv6 websites must utilize native IPv6 performance monitoring to isolate service-level agreement (SLA) issues for these sites as IPv4 monitoring alone will not help isolate IPv6 quality-of-service (QoS) issues.

IPv6 Monitoring Challenges

While the benefits of IPv6 are apparent, performance management will becomes inherently more difficult as a single IPv6 subnet is as large as the entire Internet today. Performance monitoring solutions that worked for IPv4, will not work with IPv6.

As with IPv4, IPv6 quality of service is implemented at Layer 2 and Layer 3 of the TCP/IP stack. A number of network management vendors support IPv6, but while passive network management tools may comply with the new version, some may not include the evolving set of features for IPv6 support. Alone, passive monitoring may be unable to properly detect performance issues experienced by the end user, and for web-enabled businesses, the end user experience is the most critical element of service quality, therefore active external monitoring is increasingly important.

For business and organizations deploying IPv6 websites, performance management and service-level agreement monitoring becomes more complicated due to the coexistence of IPv4 and IPv6, the exponential size of IPv6 addressing and routing, and the lack of a killer application to drive wide-scale and accelerated deployment.

Monitoring IPv6 Security Concerns

IPv6 security issues are not yet fully understood. In the early stages of IPv6 deployment, it is likely that there will be less security, not more due to issues around dual-IP stacks and inevitable mistakes with the newness of IPv6 . Weaknesses in how these networks may interoperate will cause security issues. IP spoofing continues to be a possible security concern with IPv6 networks. While not impossible, IP flooding, or scanning for valid host addresses and services is going to much more difficult than with IPv4. The concept of mobility is a feature of IPv6 networks that was available with IPv4. This is a very complex function that must be considered when evaluating IPv6 security.

Therefore, active performance monitoring of IPv6 websites and networks is critical. It will be some time before all of the possible weaknesses of IPv6 are fully exposed. In the interim, performance monitoring will prove to be extremely effective at limiting any security threats to your IPv6 website.

Dotcom-Monitor^® Native IPv6 Monitoring Bureau

Dotcom-Monitor^® has deployed a native IPv6 monitoring bureau to offer end-to-end IPv6 performance monitoring for QoS and SLA management from the end-user perspective. Dotcom-Monitor^® IPv6 native IPvP includes both a HTTP/S synthetic monitor agent process called ServerView Monitoring™ as well as a real browser-based  monitoring service called UserView Monitoring™.

ServerView Monitoring™, the HTTP/S is a synthetic monitoring service – active computer agents log onto targeted URLs as often as once per minute and execute scripts that simulate real end-user connections to a website. Dotcom-

Monitor^® performs URL monitoring for performance, accessibility and availability, checks content, monitors forms and provides basic and NT LAN (NTLM) authentication support. It provides monitoring for both HTTP sites, which typically use port 80, as well as for HTTPS which by default uses port 443 unless another port is specified.

UserView Monitoring™ is employed to monitor transactional processes such as shopping carts, member log-ins and sign-up processes, as well as for websites with a predominance of dynamic Web 2.0 elements like Flash, Ajax etc… UserView Monitoring™ simulates end-user interactions, and supports cookies, dynamic variables, client-side certificates and password-protected pages. The collected data is aggregated by each step and by the overall transaction for complete reporting.

With active monitoring using native IPv6, companies deploying IPv6 website can ensure that SLAs are being met specific to IPv6 performance. End-to-end IPv6 performance monitoring is crucial to maximize the return on investment of the deployment and to understand its effects on the IT operations and the business.

Therefore, Dotcom-Monitor^® provides instantaneous notification of IPv6 website and web application performance issues, based on customer configured notification and escalation parameters. Dotcom-Monitor^® also provides extensive real-time reporting using graphical charts that explain success/failure rates for specific performance checks, response/download times, uptime/downtime, load variations by hour/day/week and much more. For e-commerce sites, Dotcom-Monitor^® will measure quality of service for each phase of the transaction process as well as performance comparisons among different geographic areas.

Monitoring IPv6: Conclusion

Using an active external performance monitoring service will be critical with the advent of IPv6. Network and website managers must have a true view into end-user connectivity and the ability to receive instant notification whenever a problem occurs. For instant free test tools for IPv6 performance see ServerView Monitoring™ http://www.dotcom-monitor.com/task_instant_test.aspx and UserView Monitoring™ http://www.dotcom-monitor.com/technical-tools-browser-test.aspx .

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 Wayzata, Minnesota – Mar. 22, 2011 –  Dotcom-Monitor, (www.Dotcom-Monitor.com), today announced the immediate availability a browser-based instant online full-page test tool – UserView Snapshot -for measuring the performance of Web 2.0 websites from 13 worldwide monitoring locations. To try it go here: http://www.dotcom-monitor.com/technical-tools-browser-test.aspx

 UserView Snapshot is a free online test that uses Dotcom-Monitor’s browser-based UserView Monitoring™ platform. The test produces a detailed waterfall chart – from each of the 13 worldwide locations – that displays the time it takes to render individual webpage objects, including dynamic Web 2.0 page elements (such as Ajax, Flash, etc..). UserView Snapshot has the most comprehensive worldwide network of monitoring locations currently available.                                                     

“UserView Snapshot is an absolutely free service that provides extremely useful information about website speed and performance at the webpage object level” said Vadim Mazo, founder and chief technical officer of Dotcom-Monitor, “It will help website administrator’s understand areas where they can improve their website’s performance from the perspective of user’s coming to their website from all over the world.” 

UserView Snapshot is the only free browser-based tool that provides such a comprehensive user’s view of website’s performance. To try it go here: http://www.dotcom-monitor.com/technical-tools-browser-test.aspx 

The regular Dotcom-Monitor UserView Monitoring™ service is used to monitor online transactions and web applications services on an ongoing basis – as fast as once per minute. It uses a regular browser acting like a visitor to the website to test performance, including: clicking on links, filling out forms, hovering over page elements, and submitting data. 

When a problem is detected, the notification feature sends alerts via phone, pager, email, or SMS. Additionally, detailed reports and real-time status reports are available via a Live Dashboard interface with in-depth analysis of “every step” in the user experience to help pinpoint where the error condition is occurring. This user experience monitoring helps to ensure website performance, uptime, and online revenues.

“UserView Monitoring™ is a powerful and affordable solution for quickly resolving user experience issues that affect uptime performance and online revenues,” noted Mazo. Dotcom-Monitor UserView Monitoring™ is available immediately at www.Dotcom-Monitor.com. “UserView Snapshot puts the power of this type of user experience monitoring in the hands of anyone who wants to improve their website.”

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The suspicion that site speed might be a ranking factor for Google was just a suspicion; that is, until April of last year. Google plainly stated site speed as a factor in SERP (Search Engine Results Page) ranking. What does this mean? Website performance monitoring needs to become part of your SEO process – if it isn’t already.

A while back, we published an infographic to help explain the various levels and tools of website monitoring. Using this infographic, let’s discuss how website monitoring relates to SEO, and how it can strengthen your SEO campaign and response time.

Website Monitoring: The Questions to Answer

It’s easy to check site speed, thanks to browser extensions like Page Speed for Firefox, WebPagetest and Google Webmaster Tools. Lucky site owners and SEOs can look at these tools and smile, because their site is speeding along at 1-second load times.

Most aren’t that lucky. Most find out their site is slower than a turtle stampeding through peanut butter. For those SEOs and site owners, it’s time to go down the list of potential issues, like these four:

1. Is the web server up or down?

This seems easy to answer. You go online and enter the URL of the site. If it’s up, it’s up; if it’s down, it’s down.

You can’t stay online 24/7, however; if your site goes down at 1 am every morning, chances are you’re not going to know about it. Website monitoring works around the clock. What you’ll get is an email saying, “Psst… Your site is down at least 10% of the time.” In most cases, the problem is your hosting provider.

If you consistently have a high down time, you usually have two choices:

1. Upgrade your hosting account – it could be caused by using a shared server
2. Change your hosting provider – some hosting providers just don’t provide high quality services. You may have found one of them. Utilize a web hosting service that places a high priority on customer service.

If website monitoring shows your web server is working correctly, it’s time to look at your pages.

2. How long does it take to load a page?

You probably know by now that site speed matters in more places than SEO and search rankings. Let’s talk visitors. Studies show most visitors are either lost or kept in the first six seconds. If your page takes longer than 6 seconds to load, you haven’t had a chance to make an impression at all.

If it does take a long time to load a page, you have to understand part of your on page SEO probably isn’t working. It’s a definite your marketing lingo isn’t working. In other words, you have some severe issues that need to be fixed.

Your job is now to find out why the page is loading slowly. To find that out, you have to go down the list of questions and answer them with your website monitoring reports:

3. Is the content loading as it’s supposed to?

As much as you may hate to hear it, slow loading sites are most likely because of JavaScript files, images, flash or other “eye candy” goodies. It could also be because of something as simple as one image – referenced in the code but not found. In other words, it could be one problem or many.

In website monitoring reports, problem files stick out like sore thumbs. You can’t miss them.

4. Are the site functions loading correctly?

“Site functions” can be classified as functional extras. Shopping cart functions are a good example. If other files are loading properly, there could be compatibility issues with your site functions and server.

Improving You Site’s Speed

If you’re already monitoring your website and the reports say your site is slow but it isn’t your server, you have a hard road ahead. Even professional web developers want to throw their hands in the air sometimes. However, here are a few pointers that can give you a little boost and start you on your way to a faster loading site:

• You have to know what parts of the code do what. For example, if you have a Google Analytics tracking code on your client’s site, you – as the SEO – should know that ga.js is part of that code. If you see “jquery.jcarousel.js”, you have to know what program that file is attached to.

• For each issue, you have to decide whether site speed or usability is more important. Ask – does this file provide essential additions to the visitor experience, or is it just eye candy?

• You have to be unemotional about your site design. Whether you’re digging through the code or your SEO is telling you about it, you have to be willing to cull things you may really like. Usually, the “extras” are causing the site to slow down.

• You have to be willing to change programs. Program XYZ may be your favorite forum program, but recent server updates have made Program XYZ load extremely slowly. It’s time to make a change.

• Always make sure your images are optimized for the web. This doesn’t necessarily mean all should be PNGs (many think PNG means optimized). It means all should be optimized to the smallest file size. If a .jpeg has the smallest file size and faster load time, use a .jpeg.

Will Your Site Win the Race?

What do your reports say about your site? Does it drag behind the rest? If everything is great, should you continue using website monitoring as part of your SEO process?

Well, just as SEO is a continual process, monitoring your website should also be continual. Even if you don’t change anything on your site, things could begin to slow because of things like server or browser updates. Remember – the more fancy stuff you have on your site (including images), the slower it can get. That’s just how websites work.

Keeping your site in tip-top shape is the best way to succeed in online business. Website monitoring is a good way to make sure your site isn’t getting flabby. Run a site speed check on your site; we’d love to hear how you’re doing!

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A while earlier, we published a post on website monitoring escalation. It is a very complex process that involves multiple variables. Not surprisingly, some people found it challenging to understand…and even more challenging to explain to others.

For this reason, we put together an Infographic explaining the process, including the various monitoring tools for each level of monitoring from “basic” to “complex”. Bloggers are free to post this to their own blogs. We have supplied a handy click-and-paste code at the end of this post.

To publish this Infographic on your website, click on the text box below to highlight and copy the code.

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