Synthetics monitoring is an important aspect of application performance monitoring (APM) that allows you to proactively monitor your applications and infrastructure. New Relic is a well-known APM tool that offers synthetic monitoring capabilities to help ensure the availability and performance of your applications. In this article, we will discuss how to get synthetics monitoring to work in New Relic effectively.
1. Understanding Synthetics Monitoring in New Relic:
Before diving into the details, it’s essential to understand synthetics monitoring and its benefits in New Relic. Synthetics monitoring allows you to simulate user interactions with your application, helping you measure availability and performance from various geographic locations. It allows you to define scripted tests that can run at regular intervals, providing insights into your application’s behavior and detecting any anomalies or issues.
2. Setting up Synthetics Monitors:
To get started with synthetics monitoring in New Relic, you need to set up monitors that define the tests to be executed. In the New Relic console, go to the ‘Synthetics’ menu and click on ‘Manage monitors.’ Click on ‘Create monitor’ to start defining your tests.
3. Defining Monitor Types:
New Relic offers various monitor types, including API test, scripted browser, and ping monitor. API tests allow you to monitor RESTful APIs, while scripted browser monitors simulate user interactions by running a script in a real browser. Ping monitors are the simplest and only check if a specified URL is reachable.
4. Configuring Monitor Locations:
New Relic has a global network of monitoring locations where your synthetics monitors can run. It is crucial to configure the monitor locations based on your application’s target audience and geography. By selecting optimal locations, you can ensure that synthetic tests reflect your users’ experience accurately.
5. Scripting Browser Monitors:
Scripted browser monitors in New Relic allow you to simulate user journeys by running scripts in a real browser. To create a scripted browser monitor, you need to write a script using the Synthetic scripting language. This language offers a wide range of functions and capabilities to interact with web pages, validate responses, and perform actions like form submission and clicking links.
6. Customizing Monitor Schedule:
When creating monitors, you can define the schedule for them to run. You can choose between recurring schedules or define specific dates and times. It is recommended to have a regular monitoring cadence to ensure consistent and timely monitoring of your application.
7. Setting Alert Conditions:
In addition to monitoring, it is crucial to set up alert conditions in New Relic to receive notifications when issues are detected. Alert conditions allow you to define thresholds for various metrics like response time, error rate, and availability percentage. You can configure email notifications, integrate with other tools, or use New Relic’s incident management platform to handle incidents effectively.
8. Analyzing and Acting on Monitor Results:
New Relic provides detailed reports and insights on your synthetics monitors’ performance and availability. Analyze the results regularly to identify trends, performance degradations, or bottlenecks. By acting on the insights gained from synthetics monitoring, you can proactively address issues, optimize performance, and improve user experience.
9. Correlating Synthetics with Other APM Data:
To gain a holistic view of your application’s performance, it is essential to correlate synthetics monitoring with other APM data in New Relic. By combining metrics from synthetics with real-time application metrics, infrastructure monitoring, and logs, you can identify underlying causes of performance issues more effectively.
10. Continuous Improvement:
Synthetics monitoring is not a one-time setup process; it requires continuous improvement and fine-tuning. Monitor performance trends, review test scripts, and adapt to changes in your application or infrastructure. Regularly update your scripts, adjust alerting thresholds, and optimize your monitoring strategy based on evolving requirements.
In conclusion, synthetics monitoring is a powerful capability in New Relic that allows you to proactively monitor your applications’ availability and performance. By setting up monitors, scripting tests, configuring locations, and analyzing results, you can effectively leverage synthetics monitoring to ensure optimal application performance and user experience. Remember to continuously improve and evolve your monitoring strategy as your application and infrastructure change over time.
