Synthetic monitoring or synthetic testing is a way of ensuring the performance and availability of applications, websites, and IT infrastructure by creating simulated user interactions and generating artificial transactions that mimic real user behavior. This helps organizations preempt issues on response times and application functionalities by emulating user behavior to measure response times, identify potential bottlenecks, and troubleshoot performance issues before they impact actual users.

Welcome to the Tech Garden, a place where our monitoring tools, like to diverse flora, contribute to a thriving digital ecosystem. Our journey starts with the foundational roots of Application Performance Monitoring (APM), crucial for initial growth and stability, like the roots beneath our fruit trees.

Every time I share a project using SaaS tools, someone inevitably responds that they could do the same thing on their own home server ‘for free.’ I mention this not because it is annoying, since I would never go on social media at all if annoying responses were allowed to change my behavior, but because I think it points to a basic misconception that still affects DevOps practitioners today: the refusal to accurately estimate the real costs of self-managed solutions.

In today's world, your web applications must work properly to capture your audience's attention and keep them on your website for longer than a few seconds. It's a battle to keep potential customers engaged, and you'll lose out on valuable leads if your website isn't performing optimally. Before synthetic transaction monitoring (STM), developers used consumer data to examine their website or app's performance closely. Now, they can replicate behavior using synthetic scripts and models.

Everyone needs observability. If you have a service that users rely on, you need to know if it’s working for your users. Heartbeat monitoring (Also called Synthetic Monitoring) should be a way to truly know how well our site is performing for users.

Synthetic monitoring is a proactive approach that actively tests websites or apps, either scheduled or on demand, using automated testing scripts, ensuring that any issues are identified and resolved before they impact real users. This approach provides continuous oversight of the online presence, akin to having a vigilant eye on the website 24/7. In this article, we’re discussing synthetic monitoring, putting the accent on using browsers.

How much do Synthetics matter to your team? I think they matter a whole lot. Back when I was a freelance developer, I doubled my annual income with synthetics. Working mainly in database optimizations, I would finish out a contract and leave a synthetic monitor running at a very low frequency on their service. When I saw a pattern of slower performance, I knew it was time to hit the team lead-up to ask if I could help.

This is the first part of our 12-day Advent of Monitoring series. In this series, Checkly's engineers will share practical monitoring tips from their own experience. Hey there! Here is my take on what synthetic monitoring means and why it’s awesome! I think it’s a very complicated word for a very straightforward concept. In fact, I am convinced, that once you've used it, you will never want to live without it.

The cloud changed how businesses work, making things more flexible and adaptable. But keeping track of app performance from a user’s point of view in this new setup is tough. Legacy tools tend to not give developers an understanding of their users' perspective. That's where synthetic monitoring comes in. It's a strong way to focus on users and fix the problems that legacy tools miss.