• Use Cases
    • Type
      • EnterpriseHigh traffic websites with advanced functionality, such as booking, browsing or paying.
      • Small/MediumWebsites with low-mid traffic that have one or more key functionalities including checkout, sign-ups or account login.
      • AgenciesAgenciesWeb agencies that help clients build, maintain and improve their websites.
    • Industry
      • eCommerce
      • Travel
      • Gambling
      • Public Sector
    • Team
      • Technical
      • Digital
  • Platform
    • Platform
      • PerformanceRapidSpike’s performance tools help you improve website speed, so you can boost conversions and keep customers coming back.
      • SecurityProtection from web skimming attacks, scan for the latest vulnerabilities, check your external perimeter and more.
      • ReliabilityCustomer complaints can drive away future business. It’s vital you find, fix and prevent any issues fast.
    • Top Features
      • User Journeys
      • Magecart Attack Detection
      • Core Web Vitals Monitoring
      • Uptime
      • Alerting & Integrations
    • Take a guided tourLearn how RapidSpike can support your business today.
  • Customers
  • Learn
    • Learn
      • BlogNews updates and articles about web monitoring.
      • Knowledge BaseDocumentation and other resources for customers.
      • RapidSpike AcademyTraining courses and guided tutorials.
      • About UsWe help make the web faster, safer and easier to use.
      • PressSee what the press are saying about RapidSpike.
    • From The Blog
      • Return On Investment Website Revenue CalculatorReturn On Investment Website Revenue Calculator
      • 3 Website Reliability Metrics Councils Should Be Measuring3 Website Reliability Metrics Councils Should Be Measuring
      • Marketing Campaign Highlight - NEOMMarketing Campaign Highlight: NEOM Organics
      • The World Cup Of WebsitesThe World Cup Of Websites
  • Pricing
  • Log In
  • Get Started
  • Use Cases
    • Type
      • EnterpriseHigh traffic websites with advanced functionality, such as booking, browsing or paying.
      • Small/MediumWebsites with low-mid traffic that have one or more key functionalities including checkout, sign-ups or account login.
      • AgenciesAgenciesWeb agencies that help clients build, maintain and improve their websites.
    • Industry
      • eCommerce
      • Travel
      • Gambling
      • Public Sector
    • Team
      • Technical
      • Digital
  • Platform
    • Platform
      • PerformanceRapidSpike’s performance tools help you improve website speed, so you can boost conversions and keep customers coming back.
      • SecurityProtection from web skimming attacks, scan for the latest vulnerabilities, check your external perimeter and more.
      • ReliabilityCustomer complaints can drive away future business. It’s vital you find, fix and prevent any issues fast.
    • Top Features
      • User Journeys
      • Magecart Attack Detection
      • Core Web Vitals Monitoring
      • Uptime
      • Alerting & Integrations
    • Take a guided tourLearn how RapidSpike can support your business today.
  • Customers
  • Learn
    • Learn
      • BlogNews updates and articles about web monitoring.
      • Knowledge BaseDocumentation and other resources for customers.
      • RapidSpike AcademyTraining courses and guided tutorials.
      • About UsWe help make the web faster, safer and easier to use.
      • PressSee what the press are saying about RapidSpike.
    • From The Blog
      • Return On Investment Website Revenue CalculatorReturn On Investment Website Revenue Calculator
      • 3 Website Reliability Metrics Councils Should Be Measuring3 Website Reliability Metrics Councils Should Be Measuring
      • Marketing Campaign Highlight - NEOMMarketing Campaign Highlight: NEOM Organics
      • The World Cup Of WebsitesThe World Cup Of Websites
  • Pricing
  • Log In
  • Get Started

Back to Knowledgebase

Categories

Account & Billing

Getting Started

Performance Monitoring

Alerts & Notifications

Uptime Monitoring

Security Monitoring

Synthetic User Journey Monitoring

Interpreting Data

Assurance and Search

Sitemap Monitoring

Other Articles

Redirect Monitor

Website Pages

Ping vs TCP vs HTTP Monitors

Currently for the RapidSpike Uptime Monitoring Service you have the option to add one of three types of Uptime monitors.

Let’s take a brief look at the three and the differences between them and usage scenarios for each one. The three types are Ping Monitor, TCP Monitor, and HTTP Monitor.

Ping

A Ping Monitor is the basic networking level monitor offered by RapidSpike for any network devices (generally servers). Ping uses the ICMP protocol to check the network reachability of the device you are checking. This works at a low level and tells you that the device is there and has power to the network interface. Just because something responds to a ping request, it is not a true indication that the service on the device is running but it does help in troubleshooting so definitely one to use if you can enable it within your account.

One issue with Ping is that some Internet firewalls will block ping traffic reaching the network. It is common for TCP and HTTP monitors to work well, whilst the ping monitor fails so be sure to be mindful of this as it may need to be disabled.

Be sure to check out the Wikipedia entry for Ping.

TCP

The next level of network device monitor is the TCP Monitor. If we can ping a device then we know it is connected to the network, the next level up is to check that the desired services are accessible. All services that run on a network device are accessible via ports. These can then be communicated with either using TCP or UDP – RapidSpike only supports TCP port monitors.

By enabling a TCP Monitor you are checking that a service is accessible on a given port on the network device. For example, all websites are hosted using a web server service. These services default to being accessible on ports 80 (non-secure) or 443 (secure). So, if we set up a TCP Monitor on port 80 we are checking that the web server service is accessible on the network device via TCP.

There is a list of commonly used port numbers for both TCP and UDP and this can be used to configure a TCP Monitor for most services that would run on a network device.Be sure to check out the Wikipedia entry for TCP.

HTTP

The last, and highest level of monitor is the HTTP Monitor. This monitor is checking for the existence of pages for your monitored website. The monitor work by looking at the HTTP Response Code for the configured page. If a page exists, the web server will return a status code of 200, which means OK. This is a simple check to ascertain if a page exists on a website.

it is advisable to check every page on your website (within reason if it is a database driven site) and also to check for the existence of other items such as your favicon.ico or your custom 404 page.

At this level you can also add what is called a Content Check. This extra level of complexity not only check the correct response code but also checks that some text is shown on the page. This is very useful for checking that everything is working by checking for the existence of some text that you know should be visible on a specific page.

Why would I use them all?

One benefit of configuring a ping, TCP and HTTP monitor for your servers and websites is that it provides depth in troubleshooting in the event of an error. For example, if your Ping and TCP monitors setup on your web hosting server are passing but your HTTP monitors are failing then this is probably a configuration error on the web server that is preventing your pages from being displayed.

If only the ping monitor is responding then the web server may have crashed or firewall rule added on your network device preventing access. If the Ping monitor goes down (and presuming it was not initially blocked) then it is normally an indication that there is a total server outage or something between us and the server totally blocking access.

Another use is looking at the response times from the network, the server and the application. With this information you can ascertain if there is a performance issue and identify which part of your infrastructure is causing the issue.Tying all of this together with a User Journey Monitor provides a total end to end solution for managing your web performance.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT

Start your free 30-day trial today

Start monitoring today, no credit card required. Or chat to our friendly team about your requirements.

Get StartedLet’s Talk

RapidSpike - Global eCommerce Winner 2021
RapidSpike - Northern Digital Awards Winners
RapidSpike - Insider Yorkshires Most Exciting Companies
RapidSpike - UK Dev Awards 2021 Winner
RapidSpike - Prolific North Top Tech 30 To Watch
RapidSpike - Cyber Accelerator Alumni

Copyright © 2023 — All Rights Reserved.

RapidSpike - AWS Well Architected
RapidSpike - AWS Partner Network
  • Solutions
    • Technical
    • Digital
    • eCommerce
    • Travel
    • Gambling
    • Public Sector
    • Enterprise
    • Small/Medium
    • Agencies
    • New Relic
    • Customers
    • Pricing
  • Platform
    • Performance
    • Security
    • Reliability
    • How It Works
    • Insights
    • Alerting & Integrations
    • All Features
    • Synthetic User Journeys
    • Google Lighthouse
    • Core Web Vitals & Performance
    • Page Load
    • Real User Monitoring
    • Vulnerability Scanning
    • Magecart Attack Detection
    • Uptime
    • Assurance & SEO
  • Learn
    • Blog
    • Knowledge Base
    • RapidSpike Academy
    • System Status
    • RapidSpike Roadmap
    • Log In
  • Company
    • About Us
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Press
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Vulnerability Disclosure