Network service checks allow you to monitor your server or webpage via a network (most likely the internet). Most network service checks are simple port checks, for example an FTP port check is just checking to make sure the FTP port on your server is responsive. However there are a many more complicated options as well.

If you are new to monitoring we recommend you start by using either the ping or the simple HTTP check for your websites and servers.

Setting up a network service check

You can setup network service checks while creating a server, but you can also add a service check to a server that you have already created. This article will walk you through the latter, as well as provide links to help articles on the more complicated network service checks.

HTTP Check Types

In addition to a basic HTTP port check, there are two more in-depth checks which you can setup. See the pages for HTTP HEAD checks and standard HTTP respectively for more details.

Delivery Time Checks for mail servers

Both the POP and the IMAP service checks have delivery time checks, which allow you to measure the amount of time it takes for your e-mail server to receive an e-mail.

DNS

The DNS network service check behaves very differently from the other service checks. It is a very valuable tool that we encourage our customers to take a look at. To learn more about DNS monitoring see DNS.