What is synthetic monitoring?
Synthetic monitoring checks a website by sending scripted requests on a schedule from outside, instead of waiting for real visitors to run into a problem.
In more detail
The simplest synthetic check loads a page and confirms it answers correctly; more involved ones script a journey such as signing in or checking out. Because the checks run whether or not anyone visits, they catch problems at 3 a.m. and on pages few people open.
Real user monitoring (RUM) measures actual visits instead. It shows what real visitors experience, but only where and when they visit. Most teams use synthetic checks to know about outages, and RUM to understand performance.
Worked example
OwlHound runs a synthetic check of each site every 5 minutes from outside your network, and confirms a failure with a second round before emailing you. A shop that gets no visitors overnight still learns at 3:10 a.m. that its site went down at 3:02.
See also
Related terms: Uptime and TTFB (time to first byte). Free tool: Is it down?. How OwlHound helps: Website uptime monitoring. All terms: monitoring glossary.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between synthetic monitoring and real user monitoring?
Synthetic monitoring sends scheduled test requests; real user monitoring records what actual visitors experience. One finds outages early, the other explains real-world performance.
Is an uptime check synthetic monitoring?
Yes, the simplest kind: a scheduled request that confirms the page answers correctly.
How often should synthetic checks run?
Every 1 to 5 minutes for anything that earns money. The interval sets how long an outage can go unnoticed.
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