Multiple websites on a single server

Looking for some help to find the best way to go about this:

I host 8 websites on a single server. I want to set up the "HTTP monitor template" to go out on our "WEBSERVER" node and poll each of the websites, check against a different Search String for each site, and check the response times for each site. I then want it to return a descriptive alert if it fails against the search string or response time, listing out the details of which site (if any) is down.

Now, I have this set up for one site on the server, but what's the best way to monitor the other sites as well? Should I create component monitors for each site? Or should I set up another application HTTP Monitor for each site? Or is there a better way to do this that I'm not seeing? And how do I differentiate each of the sites in the alert, so it tells me which site is down, instead of the entire node?

Please point me in the right direction, and let me know if you have any questions about my setup--Thanks!

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Accepted answers

bobross

As adeimel suggested, you might consider looking into SEUM. We are just starting to deploy it for some of our mission critical user applications, but it allows for much more detail than what you can get from a basic HTTP(S) monitor.

With that said, we have a few nodes that have multiple URL monitors attached. In our environment we found it best to have each URL as its own Application (as opposed to component). This allows us to unmanage only certain URL monitors depending on the maintenance needs of the system administrators. This will also allows us to add additional components as needed.

As we apply the templates we use a meaningful name to differentiate between the various monitors. Usually this will be a significant portion of the URL itself: "www.company.com/contactus.html HTTPS Monitor". When the alert comes through we know immediately which web page is having issues since the Application name itself contains the URL.

I would stay away from including all of the URL monitors in one application due to the vagaries of alerting. When one component in an application shows down, the application will show down and you won't receive additional alerts when additional components go down. If have multiple monitors for the same site then you might consider combining them into a single template to cut down on alert volume.

Also, if you opt for descriptive names for your monitors (e.g. "Facebook HTTPS Monitor") then I would recommend doing your tier 1 support guys a favor and replacing the https://{IP}:{Port} in the component URL with the full address instead. I can't tell you how many times I've had to go back to a node just to grab the IP to test a site manually.

Hope this helps.

All comments

adeimel

you don' say how the sites are addressed? i assume host headers and not addiional ips so I would apply a custom template with multiple http components under it, one per site. you should then be able to using the component name alert as you wish.

or use SEUM.

bobross

Hope this helps.

lkrudwig

you don' say how the sites are addressed? i assume host headers and not addiional ips so I would apply a custom template with multiple http components under it, one per site.

Sorry about not specifying... each website does indeed have it's own IP address. Does that make a difference in this setup?

lkrudwig

With that said, we have a few nodes that have multiple URL monitors attached. In our environment we found it best to have each URL as its own Application (as opposed to component). This allows us to unmanage only certain URL monitors depending on the maintenance needs of the system administrators. This will also allows us to add additional components as needed.

This sounds like a good idea. I will try setting up multiple applications instead of setting up multiple components under the same application. I'd also like to add that I'm a fan of your oil paintings.