Hyperspin Presales & Support

[Chris]

I am running a website with ColdFusion and SQL. Would it be correct to say that I only have to run the dynamic page and database tests to ensure my site is up and running?

In addition. Would the ping test suffice to inform me that my internet connection is up and running? I am sort of presuming the other tests like HTTP etc are only to prove that the modem is set up or operating correctly.

In closing. I have used your service the past few days, in particular to track a problem with a clients internet connection, and I must say, I am impressed with your service.

[choonkeng]

Dear Chris,

Thank you for using our service.

If you code the database checking script with ColdFusion, you just need this one test to check for all errors including network errors, server errors, coldfusion errors and sql errors. Just make sure you check for a keyword that is output by the SQL statement.

I suppose your modem has a built-in HTTP server used for its web-based configuration utility. Some of these modems may listen for HTTP requests on their LAN interface only, so checking the HTTP port externally may not always work. We recommend using ping as that is the most primitive test for checking connectivity.

Please let us know should you have any further questions.

Thank you.

[Chris]

Thanks for your reply. I understand that by running a database query and getting a positive result, this proves that everything is working OK, but if it returned a negative result, it does not pin point that it may be just ColdFusion is down, or SQL is down. Mind you, if just ColdFusion is down, the SQL query would show as down too. Correct me if I am wrong with any of this. I'm sort of thinking, by running a separate report on a plain *.html page and *.cfm page, I could at least that way tell if the site was up and if ColdFusion was up, even if SQL was down.

[choonkeng]

Yes, you are correct that if ColdFusion is down, the SQL test will fail too. Actually, you can monitor 3 pages separately: 1 html, 1 cfm (without DB check), and 1 cfm (with DB check). That helps to differentiate if it is the server, ColdFusion, or SQL that is failing.

[Chris]

Thanks for answering my question.