New Relic is a powerful tool for monitoring the performance of your applications and infrastructure. One of the key features of New Relic is its synthetics monitoring, which allows you to monitor the availability and performance of your applications by simulating user interactions. In this article, we will discuss the steps you need to take to get synthetics monitoring to work in New Relic, and how to make the most of this feature.
Understanding Synthetics Monitoring
Synthetics monitoring in New Relic allows you to create scripted browser, scripted API, or simple ping tests that check the availability and performance of your applications. These tests can be scheduled to run at regular intervals from multiple locations around the world, giving you a comprehensive view of your application’s performance.
Setting up synthetics monitoring in New Relic involves a few key steps, which we will outline in the following sections.
Creating Synthetic Checks
The first step to getting synthetics monitoring to work in New Relic is to create synthetic checks for your applications. Here’s how to do it:
- Log in to your New Relic account: Navigate to the New Relic homepage and log in using your credentials.
- Select Synthetics: Once logged in, select ‘Synthetics’ from the navigation menu to access the synthetics monitoring dashboard.
- Create a new monitor: Click on the ‘Create a new monitor’ button to start creating a new synthetic check.
- Choose the type of monitor: Select the type of monitor you want to create – browser, API, or simple ping, and follow the prompts to set up the monitor.
- Configure the monitor settings: Specify the URL, request type, and other relevant settings for the monitor, and save your changes.
Once you have created synthetic checks for your applications, you can start monitoring their availability and performance using New Relic.
Setting Up Alerts
After creating synthetic checks, the next step is to set up alerts for your monitors. Alerts will notify you when your applications are experiencing performance issues or downtime, allowing you to take action promptly.
Here’s how to set up alerts for synthetics monitoring in New Relic:
- Navigate to Alerts: From the New Relic homepage, go to the ‘Alerts’ section in the navigation menu.
- Create a new alert policy: Click on the ‘Create a new alert policy’ button and follow the prompts to set up a new alert policy for your synthetic monitors.
- Configure alert conditions: Specify the conditions under which you want to be alerted, such as response time thresholds or error rates, and save your changes.
- Add notification channels: Add notification channels, such as email or Slack, to receive alerts when your synthetic monitors detect issues.
With alerts set up, you can rest assured that you will be notified promptly when there are performance issues with your applications, allowing you to investigate and resolve them quickly.
Analyzing Synthetic Data
Once you have set up synthetic checks and alerts, it’s important to analyze the data collected by New Relic to gain insights into your application’s performance. The synthetic monitoring dashboard provides valuable information that can help you identify trends and patterns, and make informed decisions to improve your application’s performance.
Here are some key steps to analyze synthetic data in New Relic:
- Monitor performance trends: Use the synthetic monitoring dashboard to monitor performance trends over time, and identify any recurring issues or patterns.
- Identify performance bottlenecks: Analyze the data collected by synthetic checks to identify potential performance bottlenecks in your applications, such as slow response times or high error rates.
- Compare performance across locations: Utilize the multi-location testing capability of synthetic monitors to compare the performance of your applications across different geographical locations.
- Use custom dashboards and reports: Create custom dashboards and reports in New Relic to visualize synthetic monitoring data in a way that is meaningful for your organization.
By analyzing synthetic data in New Relic, you can gain valuable insights into your application’s performance and make data-driven decisions to optimize its performance and availability.
Best Practices for Synthetics Monitoring
To make the most of synthetics monitoring in New Relic, it’s important to follow best practices to ensure that your synthetic checks are effective and provide meaningful insights into your application’s performance. Here are some best practices to consider:
- Regularly review and update monitors: Periodically review and update your synthetic monitors to ensure that they accurately reflect the user interactions and performance metrics that are important for your applications.
- Use multiple monitor types: Take advantage of the different monitor types available in New Relic, such as browser and API monitors, to gain a comprehensive view of your applications’ performance from different perspectives.
- Configure appropriate thresholds: Set appropriate response time thresholds and error rate thresholds for your synthetic monitors to ensure that you are alerted when performance issues occur.
- Collaborate with teams: Share synthetic monitoring data with relevant teams within your organization, such as development and operations teams, to collaborate on addressing performance issues and optimizing applications.
Following these best practices will help you make the most of synthetics monitoring in New Relic and ensure that you have valuable insights into your application’s performance.
Conclusion
Synthetics monitoring is a powerful feature of New Relic that can provide valuable insights into the availability and performance of your applications. By following the steps outlined in this article and implementing best practices, you can get synthetics monitoring to work effectively in New Relic and gain valuable insights that can help you optimize your applications’ performance and availability.
Remember to regularly review and update your synthetic monitors, set up alerts to be notified of performance issues, and analyze the data collected by New Relic to gain valuable insights. By doing so, you can ensure that your applications are performing at their best and providing a great user experience.
