Web Application Response Time (WebART) Monitoring

Description

A Web Application Response Time (WebART) check monitors the availability and performance of a single web-based application. These checks are useful for monitoring the efficiency and usability of commonly trafficked paths that that application’s users might take.

A list of all WebART checks and their overall status can be viewed on the Application Monitoring dashboard (Quick Views >> Application Monitoring).

Details

A WebART check loads its specified web application (typically an HTML web page) and then follows a sequence of steps (called “synthetic checks,” see below) to “use” that application in a way representative of a typical user, optionally interacting with that application by filling out a form and then validating that another web page returned by that form contains a specific string (for example, to determine a successful login attempt by searching for a welcome message). In this way, WebART checks not only monitor the availability of your web applications, but provide performance insights into the user experience for those applications.

WebART checks are the most complex of the check types and, in some ways, are actually more similar to a managed device than a type of check, in that they are discreet, manageable objects that get checked for availability and are polled for multiple types of statistical data. They also get their own version of the Device Dashboard called the Application Performance Dashboard.

Since WebART checks are not associated with any specific device, they don’t appear in any device-based lists, such as the Devices dashboard. Instead, they appear in application-based lists such as the Application Monitoring dashboard, along with Netreo’s single email application check.

WebART checks report on the basic availability of their target application. They also report on and record several performance metrics (any of which can have a threshold check configured for it, just like a device).

Each WebART check can be configured to access their target web application either locally (from the Netreo install location) or remotely (by selecting from a variety of Netreo cloud reflectors located around the world). Using a remote reflector is a good way to get an idea of how your application is performing for users in that region.

The following remote reflectors are available for WebART checks:

• AP – Seoul
• AU – Sydney
• UK – London
• EU – Frankfurt
• US – East Coast
• US – West Coast

When a WebART check is executed, the first thing that happens is that the check’s built-in synthetic browser attempts to load the application (this process performs the availability check). If the application is unresponsive or returns an error code, the check stops, and an alarm is generated (the timeout for a WebART check is 10 seconds and cannot be changed). If the application responds properly, the various synthetic check steps are carried out, and their response times are measured and recorded.

The total load time for an application does include any associated images and javascript. However, a WebART check will not actually execute any Java or Flash objects if they are present (for security reasons).

For remote (as opposed to local) WebART checks, response times are measured from the selected cloud reflector to the target and back, and exclude the time it takes for Netreo to communicate with the reflector—thus ensuring the most accurate measurement possible.

Each WebART check includes a built-in availability check (configured like a service check) and a threshold check for the application total load time statistic. Additional threshold checks can be added as desired. The following additional statistics are available for monitoring on WebART checks:

• DNS, TCP, and HTTP times for the first synthetic check step.
• HTTP times for any additional synthetic check steps after the first.

Netreo’s list of WebART checks are run sequentially in a batch (typically every five minutes). This means that if you have a large number of WebART checks, and one or more bad checks are hanging or waiting to time out, they may cause the remainder of the checks to fail to execute at all. This will cause any performance graphs for those checks to show no data, and any application status indicators for those checks will remain blank. So, be sure to maintain your WebART checks and either fix bad checks or delete them.

The User-Agent request header used by the WebART check’s synthetic browser to load web pages is:

Mozilla/5.0 (Compatible; OmniCenter by Netreo) AppleWebKit/600.6.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/8.0.6 Safari/600.6.2

Synthetic Checks

Synthetic checks are steps in the simulated path of a user. All WebART checks require at least one synthetic check in order for it to have any meaningful functionality. WebART synthetic checks are added and configured to simulate a given path that an end-user might take through your application. This path is then monitored for performance, measuring such aspects as functionality, availability, and response time. A WebART check without any synthetic checks will never become active or report anything. Synthetic checks are executed in the order in which they are added and cannot be reordered. So, it’s best to plan your synthetic checks carefully before beginning.

Web Forms

The first synthetic check step in a WebART check offers the option of filling out a web form. But only the first step offers that option. Adding the first synthetic check step to a WebART check begins an interactive wizard process that will immediately connect to a user-supplied URL and search that URL for any forms that can be filled out. If any forms are available, Netreo will download them and allow you to select which form (if any) to fill out for the first step. A dialog is then provided where you can specify the exact values for the WebART check to use to fill out that form. The web page that results from filling out and submitting the form can then be validated as correct by searching for strings within the page using a search expression or exact text match (see below). Additional steps can be added to the WebART check (to be executed in sequence) by adding additional synthetic check steps to simulate the navigation of the application (for example, navigating a website). This path will then be replicated every time the WebART check runs. If you make your first synthetic check step a login step, you will already be logged in if you do decide to add additional steps; such as following additional links or activating other page functions to see if they are performing as desired. It is important to note that Netreo will only download forms for the first synthetic check step. This means that Netreo cannot log in to sites requiring two-step authentication (i.e., where the username and password are submitted using different forms on different pages).

Monitoring

Application Monitoring Dashboard

The Application Monitoring dashboard is where you can view the overall health of your web-based applications. It is available to users at all permission levels.

The Application Monitoring dashboard can be found by navigating to Quick Views > Application Monitoring.

The "Web Applications" panel displays a mini application response time graph (that shows the response time in seconds for the last 24 hours) and the current availability and performance status of each of your WebART checks, which are categorized by their web application type (local, cloud or remote).

Clicking the name of a WebART check in the application table will open its corresponding Web Application Performance dashboard. If an icon in the table indicates a problem, that icon can be clicked to drill down into a more detailed explanation of the problem.

The Application Monitoring dashboard and the Web Apps dashboard are essentially identical (i.e. they both display the same information), but the Web Apps dashboard is only available to users with SuperAdmin permissions.

Application Performance Dashboard

The "Web Application" widget on the Application Monitoring and Consolidated dashboards provide at-a-glance health and performance information for all currently active WebART checks, but for more detailed information about an individual check, you’ll want to look at that check's Application Performance dashboard. The dashboard for any specific WebART check can be navigated to by clicking on the name of the check in the Web Application widget.

The Application Performance dashboard provides several panels of useful information about an individual WebART check, including:

Application Response Time
The graph in this panel shows response time performance for each synthetic step in the WebART check for the previous 12 hours, including DNS and TCP. If a cloud reflector is used to perform the check, response times are from the selected reflector to the target and back. This measurement excludes the time from the Netreo server to the reflector, ensuring the most accurate measurement possible. This table can be exported or printed using the export menu icon at the upper-right.

Breakdown
A pie chart of application response times for each synthetic step in this WebART check. Click a synthetic step name in the legend to include or remove it from the chart display. Mouse over the chart slices for response time values in seconds.

Application Status
A simple icon representing the overall health of this check.

Average Response Time
This panel displays the value of the most recently recorded total response time of the WebART check.

Synthetic Checks
This table shows 15-minute, 1-hour and 24-hour average load times for each synthetic step in the WebART check. Total time is the sum of all synthetic step values (see Application Response Time Panel above for information regarding reflectors). Clicking on a value in the table will open the respective synthetic step in a graph on its own separate page, along with filtering options to change the time range. Click the icon next to the panel title to open the Application Response Time for: [Application] page, which displays a larger version of the Application Response Time graph above, also along with various filtering options for time and display.

[Business Workflow]
The remaining panels are Tactical Overview widgets for any business workflows that have been associated with this WebART check. This allows a user to look for correlations between device issues and problems with the application. The value in the top right of each panel shows the current health score for that business workflow. The icon next to the business workflow name opens the device group dashboard for that group.

Configuration and Management

Create a WebART Check

Creating a web application response time (WebART) check requires configuration of several distinct parts:

1. The base check (this part also controls the creation and management of the passive availability service check that monitors the availability of the application).
2. A set of synthetic check steps is used to follow a typical user path through the application (this part allows Netreo to collect performance information on the application).
3. (Optional) Any desired threshold checks to monitor the response performance of the application (this part allows Netreo to warn about performance issues).

To create a new WebART check in Netreo, follow the steps below.

Create the base check

1. Log in to Netreo as a user with the SuperAdmin access level.
2. Go to the main menu and select Administration > Modules > Web Apps to open the Web Application Administration page.
3. Select Create Web Application.
4. On the Add an Application page:
   1. In the Name  field, enter a name for your WebART check to identify it in the various dashboards.
      • Note: The single quote/apostrophe character is not supported in this field and may not be used.
   2. (Optional) In the Related Business Workflows field select one or more business workflows to have their status displayed on the Application Performance dashboard for this check (as an aid to troubleshooting).
   3. In the Location  field, select a location from which this check will be run.
      • Local checks will be run from the Netreo server location.
      • Non-local checks will be run from the selected Netreo cloud remote reflector. This is useful to test accessibility from different regions.
        • Note: You must have Netreo Cloud Services (Administration > System > Cloud Services) active to select a remote reflector.
        • Caution: As a general rule, do not test public websites from remote reflectors—this can conceivably cause problems.
   4. In the Web Application Type  field, select how you would like your WebART check categorized in Netreo dashboards alongside other WebART checks.
      • This setting is merely for organizational convenience and can be edited at any time. It does not affect how the check works or any of the check options.
   5. Select Create.
5. The [Application] - Edit page for your new WebART check opens, showing the base WebART check with an APPLICATION status of PENDING.
   • The base check creates and manages the passive availability service check used to monitor the application for availability.
   • At least one synthetic check step must now be added (see below) and the WebART check run once before its status becomes ACTIVE (meaning it is now monitoring your application).

Continue to the next section to configure the settings that manage the availability service check.

Configure the default threshold check and availability service check settings

The base check creates and manages the passive availability service check used for availability monitoring of the application. It also includes a default threshold check for monitoring the total load time performance of the application. Configure the settings for the availability service check, as well as for the default threshold check, using the steps below.

1. Log in to Netreo as a user with the SuperAdmin access level.
2. Go to the main menu and select Administration > Modules > Web Apps to open the Web Application Administration page.
3. Locate the WebART check you wish to edit and select its edit icon in the ACTIONS column to open the [Application] - Edit page.
4. Locate the base check and select its edit icon in the ACTIONS column to open the [Application] - Update page.
5. In the "Default Threshold" section:
   1. In the ACTION GROUP field, select the action group(s) to receive alert notifications  before escalation.
   2. In the ESCALATION GROUP field, select the action group(s) to receive alert notifications after escalation.
   3. In the RENOTIFICATION INTERVAL  field enter the number of minutes for Netreo to wait before sending another alert notification if the incident  is not acknowledged by a user.
      • The default value of 1440 minutes (24 hours) is recommended to minimize alert noise.
      • Setting a value of 0 (zero) will disable renotifications.
   4. In the ESCALATE AT field enter the number of alert notifications after the first for Netreo to wait before sending alert notifications to the action groups in the ESCALATION GROUP field, as well as to the groups in the ACTION GROUP field.
      • The default value of 1 means that a total of 2 alerts must be sent before escalation groups start receiving them.
   5. In the STATISTICAL GROUP field, select the type that has the greatest relevance to the check. This field determines which statistical calculations this check contributes to for reports.
   6. (Optional) If you would like to configure static threshold monitoring:
      1. In the HIGH warning field (yellow), enter the exact value at which the check should enter the WARNING state for high values.
         • Next to the value type, select the multiplier prefix.
      2. In the HIGH critical field (red), enter the exact value at which the check should enter the CRITICAL state for high values.
         • Next to the value type, select the multiplier prefix.
      3. In the LOW warning field (yellow), enter the exact value at which the check should enter the WARNING state for low values.
         • Next to the value type, select the multiplier prefix.
      4. In the LOW critical field (red), enter the exact value at which the check should enter the CRITICAL state for low values.
         • Next to the value type, select the multiplier prefix.
      5. Repeat these steps for each variable if two variables are present.
   7. In the TIME PERIOD field, select the time period over which data values will be sampled for the calculated average.
   8. (Optional) If you would like to configure anomaly detection:
      1. In the Boundary field, select whether to check for upper boundary anomalies, lower boundary anomalies, or both.
      2. In the Sensitivity warning field (yellow), select the desired sensitivity. (This should always be at least one setting higher than the critical sensitivity field so that the warning state occurs first.)
      3. In the Sensitivity critical field (red), select the desired sensitivity. (This should always be at least one setting lower than the warning sensitivity field so that the warning state occurs first.)
      4. In the Season field select the desired season for the data samples.
      5. Repeat these steps for each variable if two variables are present.
      6. (Optional) In the Min Value field set the minimum value that a polled value must be to qualify for anomaly detection.
         • The value entered in this field should be specified in the same base unit displayed in the static threshold configuration without the prefix (for example, bytes, not megabytes; seconds, not milliseconds).Note: For bandwidth monitoring (only), the value must be specified in bits per second and not as a percentage.
6. In the "Custom Application Check" section:
   1. In the DESCRIPTION field enter a description for the WebART check. This field is referenced in the alert notification sent when the check fails.
   2. In the ACTION GROUP field select the action group(s) to receive alert notifications when the check enters the CRITICAL state, and at each renotification interval.
   3. In the ESCALATION GROUP field, select the action group(s) to receive alert notifications at each renotification interval after escalation.
   4. In the RENOTIFICATION INTERVAL  field enter the number of minutes for Netreo to wait before sending another alert notification if the incident  is not acknowledged by a user.
      • The default value of 1440 minutes (24 hours) is recommended to minimize alert noise.
      • Setting a value of 0 (zero) will disable renotifications (meaning alerts are sent only once).
   5. In the ESCALATION DELAY field enter the number of alert notifications after the first for Netreo to wait before sending alert notifications to the action groups in the ESCALATION GROUP field as well as to the groups in the ACTION GROUP field.
      • The default value of 1 means that a total of 2 alerts must be sent before escalation groups start receiving them.
   6. In the ALARM HOURS field select a time frame during which alerts may be sent.
   7. In the ALERT AFTER field select the number of failures the check is allowed to experience before sending an alert notification (default is 3).
   8. In the NOTES field enter any notes that you would like included in an alert notification about this check.
7. Select Update to save your settings and be returned to the [Application] - Edit page for the WebART check.
8. Proceed to add a synthetic check to the WebART check (see below).
   • One or more synthetic check steps must be added to your WebART check for it to function (see next section).

Availability and performance monitoring won't work until at least one synthetic check that connects to your application has been added (see below).

See Threshold Check to learn about threshold checks and their uses.

See Service Check to learn about service checks and their uses.

Add synthetic checks

Every WebART check must include at least one synthetic check step that accesses your application. This allows Netreo to collect response performance statistics for that application. These performance values may then be monitored using threshold checks (see below). Successfully connecting to your application is also how the WebART check's passive availability service check gets updated.

1. Log in to Netreo as a user with the SuperAdmin access level.
2. Go to the main menu and select Administration > Modules > Web Apps to open the Web Application Administration page.
3. Locate the WebART check you wish to edit and select its edit icon in the ACTIONS column to open the [Application] - Edit page.
4. In the "Synthetic Checks" section, select Add Custom Web Check  to begin the synthetic check wizard.
   1. On the Step 1 page:
      1. Enter a name or descriptive term for this step (such as "Login") in the "Description" field, then enter the URL to be retrieved.
      2. Select Next.
         • If the provided URL includes any forms that can be interacted with, Netreo will evaluate them and allow you to select the form tag that you wish to interact with (for example, a login field), if required.
   2. On the Step 2 page (if forms were detected):
      1. (Optional) Select the form tag you wish to use. If you don't wish to interact with a form, leave the selection blank.
      2. Select Next.
   3. On the Step 3 page (if you selected a form tag):
      1. For each variable in the form that can have a value submitted, select from the following three options (the form itself determines variable names):
         • Leave blank - This option will leave the variable value empty.
         • Use provided value - This option allows you to enter a value in the field to the right.
         • Use form default value - This option submits the form default value for the respective variable if one exists.
      2. Once all variables have been addressed, in the "Click or Submit" field, select from the following two options:
         • Click - This option emulates clicking the submit button of the form (this is typically the option you should choose).
         • Submit - This option is provided for backward compatibility and submits the form to a URL provided by the form itself. Unless you know that you need this option, you should probably select "Click."
      3. Click Next.
   4. On the Step 4 page:
      • Select a validation option from the following three options (once the form is submitted, these options search the resulting returned page for a specific string of text to validate that the form was submitted correctly):
        • Match text entry using a regular expression - This allows you to use a regular expression to define the search pattern for validating that the correct webpage has been reached.
        • Match text entry exactly - This allows you to enter the text that must be matched exactly to validate that the correct webpage has been reached.
        • Match element using an XPath expression - This allows you to use an XPath expression to define the search pattern for validating that the correct webpage has been reached.
   5. Enter the text string or expression to be evaluated in the field provided.
   6. If you have no further steps to add, click Finish to be returned to the [Application] - Edit page of your WebART check and skip the next step.
5. (Optional) Continue building the path your WebART check will take through your application by selecting Add Subsequent Step for each step required. Each step in a WebART check can also have a threshold check added to it to send alert notifications of performance problems.
   • When supplying a URL for subsequent steps, select from the following two options:
     • Text of link - This option looks specifically for hyperlinks in the supplied URL that contain exactly the text as supplied. The supplied text must be the full text of the hyperlink, no partial text is allowed. (Note: this is not the full tag for a link, only the text of the hyperlink as visible on the page.)
     • Exact URL - This option allows you to specify a complete URL address.
6. Select Test Check at the bottom of the [Application] - Edit page to test that all steps in your path are working correctly.
   • Testing your WebART check this way will execute the synthetic check steps in real-time and return the results back to Netreo, letting you know immediately whether or not your check works correctly.

The base check should now display an APPLICATION status of ACTIVE.

Add Additional Threshold Checks to a WebART Check

If you would like to add additional threshold checks to any of the synthetic checks in your WebART check, follow the steps below.

1. Log in to Netreo as a user with the SuperAdmin access level.
2. Go to the main menu and select Administration > Modules > Web Apps to open the Web Application Administration page.
3. Locate the WebART check you wish to edit and select its edit icon in the ACTIONS column to open the [Application] - Edit page.
4. Select the Thresholds tab at the top of the page to open the [Application] - Threshold page.
   
5. In the "Add Threshold" section, select the threshold for the synthetic check step that you would like to monitor from the drop-down list.
6. Select Add Threshold to open the [Application] - Add Threshold page.
7. In the "Edit Thresholds" section:
   1. In the ACTION GROUP field, select the action group(s) to receive alert notifications  before escalation.
   2. In the ESCALATION GROUP field, select the action group(s) to receive alert notifications after escalation.
   3. In the RENOTIFICATION INTERVAL  field enter the number of minutes for Netreo to wait before sending another alert notification if the incident  is not acknowledged by a user.
      • The default value of 1440 minutes (24 hours) is recommended to minimize alert noise.
      • Setting a value of 0 (zero) will disable renotifications.
   4. In the ESCALATE AT field enter the number of alert notifications after the first for Netreo to wait before sending alert notifications to the action groups in the ESCALATION GROUP field, as well as to the groups in the ACTION GROUP field.
      • The default value of 1 means that a total of 2 alerts must be sent before escalation groups start receiving them.
   5. In the STATISTICAL GROUP field, select the type that has the greatest relevance to the check. This field determines which statistical calculations this check contributes to for reports.
   6. (Optional) If you would like to configure static threshold monitoring:
      1. In the HIGH warning field (yellow), enter the exact value at which the check should enter the WARNING state for high values.
         • Next to the value type, select the multiplier prefix.
      2. In the HIGH critical field (red), enter the exact value at which the check should enter the CRITICAL state for high values.
         • Next to the value type, select the multiplier prefix.
      3. In the LOW warning field (yellow), enter the exact value at which the check should enter the WARNING state for low values.
         • Next to the value type, select the multiplier prefix.
      4. In the LOW critical field (red), enter the exact value at which the check should enter the CRITICAL state for low values.
         • Next to the value type, select the multiplier prefix.
      5. Repeat these steps for each variable if two variables are present.
   7. In the TIME PERIOD field, select the time period over which data values will be sampled for the calculated average.
   8. (Optional) If you would like to configure anomaly detection:
      1. In the Boundary field, select whether to check for upper boundary anomalies, lower boundary anomalies, or both.
      2. In the Sensitivity warning field (yellow), select the desired sensitivity. (This should always be at least one setting higher than the critical sensitivity field so that the warning state occurs first.)
      3. In the Sensitivity critical field (red), select the desired sensitivity. (This should always be at least one setting lower than the warning sensitivity field so that the warning state occurs first.)
      4. In the Season field select the desired season for the data samples.
      5. Repeat these steps for each variable if two variables are present.
      6. (Optional) In the Min Value field set the minimum value that a polled value must be to qualify for anomaly detection.
         • The value entered in this field should be specified in the same base unit displayed in the static threshold configuration without the prefix (for example, bytes, not megabytes; seconds, not milliseconds).Note: For bandwidth monitoring (only), the value must be specified in bits per second and not as a percentage.
           
   9. Select Add Threshold to save the configuration and return to the [Application] - Threshold page.
8. Repeat the steps above to add and configure any additional desired threshold checks.

See Threshold Check to learn about threshold checks and their uses.

Disable a WebART Threshold Check

Threshold checks cannot be removed once added; they can only be disabled. To disable a threshold check in your WebART check, follow the steps below.

1. Log in to Netreo as a user with the SuperAdmin access level.
2. Go to the main menu and select Administration > Modules > Web Apps to open the Web Application Administration page.
3. Locate the WebART check you wish to edit and select its edit icon in the ACTIONS column to open the [Application] - Edit page.
4. Select the Thresholds tab at the top of the page to open the [Application] - Threshold page.
5. In the "Web Application Threshold Configuration" section, locate the threshold check you would like to disable.
6. Select its disable switch in the ACTIONS column. Select again to re-enable the check.

Disabling a threshold check only halts performance monitoring of the collected statistics. The statistic values continue to be collected and displayed in the appropriate locations in Netreo.

See Threshold Check to learn about threshold checks and their uses.