When you choose to host on platforms like Ec2 or Rackspace, you forfeit several things usually found with hosting providers. The first, and the one I’m going to focus on, is uptime. Uptime is your job now, and you’re going to need help getting it done. I’m going to show you the tools I use to keep an eye on my EC2 instances.
Google App Engine:
The first monitor I put in place I found on Tutorialzine’s website in a post called “Developing a Google App Engine Application“. It’s very basic. Check out that post to see how to set it up, then check out mine running here.
Stella:
The second tool I use is called Stella, and she’s beautiful…and very simple. Sign up, enter your website’s URL and let her do the rest. She’ll email you when your pages time out as well as weekly reports that show your uptime percentage. Stella is a “set it and forget about it” tool. You really don’t need to login after the initial setup. It’s a great app that’s saved me on multiple occasions.
WatchMouse:
WatchMouse monitors your servers from all over the world and emails you the second anything become unavailable. My favorite feature is the dashboard that is included. Mine’s here. Sometimes the site feels a little buggy, but otherwise it’s a solid service.
BlogCheck.me:
BlogCheck is the newest monitoring app I’ve added to my list. It’s a brand new service, but so far is pretty awesome. You get email alerts, text message alerts, and push notifications with the BlogCheck.me iPhone app if your site ever goes down. There’s a free 30 day trial; after that, they have plans starting at $2.50 a month.
Those 4 tools keep me informed of my servers uptime at all times. If anything ever goes down, I get bombarded with emails alerting me.
