AlertSite Products and Services FAQ

General FAQ (show all-hide all)

Security FAQ

Where can I find answers to security product questions? Where can I find answers to security product questions? For security product questions, please visit the Security FAQ

Why does my company or organization need web site monitoring services? Why does my company or organization need web site monitoring services? The AlertSite Monitoring Suite is designed to provide a flexible set of monitoring options that allow customers to measure the performance and availability of web sites, applications and servers such as FTP, DNS and email from an end-to-end perspective. AlertSite services interact with and measure the performance of your critical online services. You are notified immediately if errors or significant slowdowns occur.

How does AlertSite's free trial work? How does AlertSite's free trial work? AlertSite offers a free 30-day trial for all monitored services. During the trial period, our team of AlertSite Performance Advisors learns more about your requirements and makes sure your account is set up correctly. We make sure you have the best evaluation possible. To start your free trial, simply complete the online form, and AlertSite will start monitoring immediately. Go to http://www.alertsite.com/orderform.shtml.

What plans are offered? What plans are offered? AlertSite offers the following products and services: Monitoring Suite Web Site Performance Monitor SLA Performance Monitor Server Availability Monitor Transaction Monitor Email Monitor Déjà Click Web Load Test ServerAgent Security Vulnerability Scan with PCI Business Benchmarks

Why choose AlertSite? Why choose AlertSite? Excellent service and support. Detailed performance measurements. Simultaneous measurement from multiple locations. Clear, concise and easy-to-use reporting. Superior diagnostic information. Flexible alerting mechanisms.

I just received an alert and I am unsure what it means, where do I look? I just received an alert and I am unsure what it means, where do I look? There is a lot of diagnostic information that is a part of the alert or automatically produced by our web monitoring system when an error occurs. - The alert itself contains a status code and text description of the error that will indicate the type of problem encountered. - If the "include server response" checkbox is configured for that notifier, any response received from the server will be included a text attachment. - If it was a confirmed error that could possibly result from network connectivity issues a TCP traceroute is automatically generated. - Lastly, our "drill-down diagnostics" and new "event detail" screen (available in the Detail Reports and Monitoring Console) provide a quick and easy view of current and historical events.

Why do I only get notifications from only one location? Why do I only get notifications from only one location? If you are only receiving alerts from one location, it is likely that is your primary location and your notification type is set to Primary. You have the option to receive alerts from all locations using our Global Notify or Global Verify options. Our SLA plans allow you to correlate errors from all locations, and only alert when all locations recognize and error.

What is the AlertSite service guarantee? What is the AlertSite service guarantee? AlertSite offers a 30-day money-back guarantee to all new customers. We stand behind our services with superior customer support and a no-excuses 30-day money-back guarantee. If you are unhappy for any reason, AlertSite will provide a complete refund.

How do we sign up? How do we sign up? If you have a current trial account, just login and click the link in the user Control Panel to activate your account. If you are a new client, activate your account by clicking http://www.alertsite.com/cgi-bin/orderform?page=1.

Which plan(s) should we choose? Which plan(s) should we choose? This depends on your specific requirements. AlertSite Performance Advisors will evaluate your requirements and help you select the services that are a good fit for your company or organization. Email us at customercare@alertsite.com or call 877.302.5378 toll free. An AlertSite Performance Advisor will help you select the products that are right for you.

What services can AlertSite monitor? What services can AlertSite monitor? AlertSite can monitor a broad array of web-based services including: - Web page performance - Web based business transaction performance - DNS and FTP servers - Round-trip email monitoring - SMTP, POP and IMAP email processes - TCP connect and ping

How do I interpret the AlertSite status codes? How do I interpret the AlertSite status codes? Almost anywhere we refer to AlertSite's status codes we provide a direct link to interpret those values. That information can be found here: http://www.alertsite.com/cgi-bin/helpme.cgi?page=statuscodes.html

Do you verify before sending alerts? Do you verify before sending alerts? Yes, all errors are verified by repeating the monitor 5 seconds later. Unconfirmed errors become warnings and alerts are not issued. We also offer options to configure the level of errors that cause alerts to be issued. For example, using Uptime ECT our SLA plans will only notify when all locations are in error. Using our Global Verify strategy, alerts are sent for all errors except localized connectivity problems.

How do you detect that my page has changed? How do you detect that my page has changed? We support three methods: Content Change Detection Keyword Verification and Fullpage Content Change Detection. The first, Content Change Detection, looks first for HTTP header elements and then for the actual size of the retrieved page to determine if a page has changed from the prior test. Keyword Verification looks for a particular keyword or phrase (that you specify) within the retrieved page and raises an alert if it cannot find the word(s). Both methods may be selected by choosing "Manage Monitored Site(s)" from your Control Panel. Fullpage Content Change notification is available to customers with fullpage monitoring. It can notify when page content (images,flash,js) changes in size or are added or deleted. Note that some pages are "dynamic" and cannot be effectively monitored by Content Change Detection since the size changes regularly. Your best option in this case would be to use only Keyword Verification.

What is the difference between availability and uptime? What is the difference between availability and uptime? Availability provides a regional perspective of your monitored services while uptime coordinates your view across all locations to determine if the services were up or not. For example, if you are monitored from 3 cities and 1 city cannot reach you all day you would have a 66% availability. At the same time, your uptime would be 100% because at least one city could reach your services at that time. Our SLA Performance plans and Uptime ECT option provide a unique perspective of availability vs. uptime and access to our SLA Manager for compliance reporting.

Why do we need the AlertSite Security Vulnerability Scan? Why do we need the AlertSite Security Vulnerability Scan? According to US-CERT (United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team), 99 percent of network attacks occur because of known vulnerabilities. The best way to avoid attacks is by identifying and addressing these vulnerabilities. The AlertSite Security Vulnerability Scan is updated daily and offers a hacker's-eye view of your environment. Currently AlertSite scans for over 9,000 known vulnerabilities.

I'm not sure where my daily report is, can I get a copy from my account? I'm not sure where my daily report is, can I get a copy from my account? Yes. A copy of all reports delivered over the last 7 days is available in the Document Manager in your account. From you control panel, select Report Center then click the Document Manager button.

How can I change who receives the Daily Monitoring Summary? How can I change who receives the Daily Monitoring Summary? All of the email addresses in the email field for the account administrator will receive a copy of the daily monitoring summaries. From the control panel select Manage Account. To add another recipient just add additional email addresses with a comma separator.

How can I be alerted when errors occur? How can I be alerted when errors occur? When an error occurs our monitoring services can be configured to deliver alerts by email, cellular phone, SNMP Trap, SMS message, telephone call and pager. ** Additional fees apply for SMS messages, telephone call alerts and non-toll-free paging.

How long will my data be saved? How long will my data be saved? Standard data retention is 3 months, and many reports can be downloaded as a *.csv file. Also, Extra Data Retention can be purchased.

How can I send alerts to my pager? How can I send alerts to my pager? Like cellular carriers, most page companies have enabled their paging systems to accept emails. Using the "short email to wireless" alert is great for these. Some examples are here: http://www.alertsite.com/cgi-bin/helpme.cgi?page=EditNotify.html We do offer true alphanumeric paging for customers from our Washington DC, Boca Raton and Fremont locations. After configuring your pager, please remember to contact customercare@alertsite.com so we may complete the configuration.

How can I send alerts to my cellular phone? How can I send alerts to my cellular phone? Most cellular phones in North America and now many in Europe can now receive free alerts. Any cellular phone that can receive an email from your desktop can receive the free "short email to wireless" alerts. These are compact format alerts that fit the ~ 150 character limits of most carriers. There are examples for most of the major carriers on this help page: http://www.alertsite.com/cgi-bin/helpme.cgi?page=EditNotify.html * Some European and Far East countries still require SMS messaging. Contact your Performance Advisor at customercare@alertsite.com to add SMS messages to your account.