While both passive and synthetic monitoring solutions are critical for comprehensive website and server management, the synthetic approach presents a wealth of advantages for IT teams and webmasters by utilizing the power of behavioral scripts. But before we dive into the unique benefits, let’s do a quick refresher on their differences.
Synthetic vs. Passive Website Monitoring
Also known as real-user monitoring, passive monitoring refers to the process of capturing traffic from a network to determine what went wrong with a website or Web application after problems have occurred. Relied on considerably by large enterprises—that use enterprise management tools to monitor web application performance within the networks—passive monitoring aggregates critical data in response to outside factors with the end goal of monitoring real users on a website and tracking the website’s response to them.
Synthetic monitoring, on the other hand, provides webmasters with pertinent information to guarantee seamless server monitoring and web application uptime before problems impact a large number of site visitors. Also referred to as active monitoring, synthetic monitoring performs regular, scripted checks that simulate end-user behavior.
The Synthetic Monitoring Edge
Synthetic monitoring technology manages from an external perspective, meaning it can pinpoint the exact root cause of an issue, such as slow applications, Internet network problems and infrastructure issues.
Synthetic monitoring does not have to rely on real Web traffic as it utilizes technology that emulates a Web browser and scripting that is programmed to simulate the actions of an actual Web user. This means that web applications can be continually tested so that real-time status updates on website uptime and performance are always available.
Benefits include:
- Webmasters are granted a holistic view of end-to-end connectivity for geographically distributed users since monitoring can occur from multiple Internet locations.
- It allows for more relevant service-level agreement management by providing metrics from an end-user perspective. (see: SLA management)
- Due to its proactive approach, performance issues can be detected before they affect websites and applications.
