Within the digital universe, there are few elements used as much as Web applications. The use of applications can be found from the smallest personal blog to the largest corporate portal. Because of the demands and importance of Web applications, the need for effective application monitoring has never been greater. While there are literally hundreds of various monitoring techniques and metrics, two of the most important of these revolves around how the application communicates and interacts with users.
The server and database of Web applications ultimately determines the end user experience. When a user activates and engages with an application, the requests set from the end-user browser are known as transactions. These transactions must communicate with the application server and database in order to execute specific tasks and collect essential information. In face, the health of a databse directly determines the efficiency and performance of an application.
In many instances, when an application features specific errors, such as a select group of users unable to access their accounts, there is a serious issue within the database level of the application. Therefore, in order to sustain a solid and high-performing experience for all users, the entire database and server must be continuously monitored. While this may not be a new topic for you, how exactly do you effectively use web application monitoring to keep track of server and database health?
There are many different ways you can effectively monitor these two components within your application infrastructure. The ideal monitoring method utilized by your organization is depends on unique factors; however, there are several universaldatabase metrics you should strive to monitor. These include:
- Average Database Queries – The number of queries sent to your database is an essential piece of informaiton to determine whether your current resources are ample for demand as well as determining traffic baselines.
- Number of Active Connections – In an attempt to sustain a secure and stable environment, you must be aware of the number of active connections from an application into its database. In some instances, the number of active connections can help identify malicious attacks or spam attemps.
- Quantity of Threads – As a user engages with the application and begins accessing different levels within its infrastructure, the application opens threads with its database. The number of threads can directly influence the speed and stability of an application. Therefore, its importan to continuously monitor the number of threads opened between a specific application in order to ensure end-users experience the highest quality interaction.
- Uptime Calculations – Of course, most application monitoring solutions are capable of determining whether or not the entire application is up-and-running; however, its imperative that you assign a monitoring agent specifically to the uptime of database and servers. While your Web server may be available, the application database may be experiencing an error that makes it go offline.