How to Configure Synthetic Monitoring in New Relic?

How to Configure Synthetic Monitoring in New Relic? In the digital age, where websites and applications are the lifeblood of businesses, ensuring smooth and reliable user experiences is crucial for success. A seemingly minor glitch can lead to disastrous consequences, resulting in disgruntled customers and lost revenue. But fear not, for we have the ultimate solution to keep your online presence running like a well-oiled machine! Say hello to New Relic’s Synthetic Monitoring, a superhero-like tool that will protect your digital realm from the lurking perils of performance issues and downtime. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through the process of configuring Synthetic Monitoring in New Relic, equipping you with the power to conquer the digital landscape!

What Is Synthetic Monitoring?

Unlike traditional monitoring that observes real user data, Synthetic Monitoring unleashes its superpowers by simulating user interactions across your digital assets. By employing synthetic tests from various global locations, you gain insights into how your applications and websites perform from the perspective of your users in different regions. This data helps identify performance bottlenecks, erratic behavior, and downtime threats, all before real users face these issues.

Synthetic Monitoring vs. Real User Monitoring

Synthetic Monitoring involves simulating user interactions with a website or application by using predefined scripts and test scenarios. These tests are typically performed from various global locations to replicate real-world user experiences. Whereas Real User Monitoring involves tracking and analyzing the actual interactions of real users with a website or application. It captures data from users’ browsers and devices to understand how they experience the digital service in real-time.

The primary purpose of synthetic monitoring is to proactively identify performance issues and ensure the availability and functionality of applications. It helps organizations catch potential problems before real users encounter them. On the other hand, RUM aims to provide insights into the actual user experience, including page load times, user interactions, and performance across different devices and network conditions.

How Does Synthetic Monitoring Benefit Global Business?

Synthetic monitoring offers several significant benefits to global businesses, especially those with a widespread online presence and a diverse user base. It helps assess the performance of digital assets from different global locations, enabling businesses to ensure a uniform experience for all users, regardless of their location. Synthetic monitoring can be used for benchmarking performance against competitors in different regions, allowing organizations to identify areas where they need improvement. When rolling out new services or features, synthetic monitoring can be used to assess their impact on performance. It helps ensure that new updates don’t negatively affect the user experience. synthetic monitoring empowers global businesses to maintain a high standard of digital performance across diverse regions, enhances user experiences, and helps prevent potential performance issues that can adversely impact revenue and reputation. By continuously monitoring and optimizing digital assets, global businesses can stay competitive, responsive, and attuned to the needs of their worldwide user base.

The New Relic Synthetic Monitoring

How to Configure Synthetic Monitoring in New Relic? New Relic is a leading software analytics company that provides monitoring, observability, and performance management solutions for modern digital businesses. Founded in 2008, New Relic’s mission is to help organizations harness the power of data to gain valuable insights into their software and applications, enabling them to deliver exceptional digital experiences to their customers.

Prerequisite

Before you embark on configuring Synthetic Monitoring in New Relic, there are a few prerequisites you need to fulfill to ensure a smooth setup process. Make sure you have the following essentials in place:

New Relic Account: You must have a New Relic account to access the Synthetic Monitoring feature. If you don’t have one, sign up for a New Relic account at their website (https://newrelic.com/) to get started.

Access Privileges: Ensure that you have the necessary access privileges within the New Relic account to use Synthetic Monitoring. Admin or restricted access with Synthetic Monitoring rights is required to create and manage synthetic tests.

Installation of New Relic Browser Agent (Optional): While not mandatory, it’s highly recommended to have the New Relic Browser agent installed on your website. The Browser agent provides additional insights into real user experiences, allowing you to correlate synthetic test data with actual user behavior.

Knowledge of Application URLs and APIs: For synthetic tests, you’ll need to know the URLs of the applications or websites you want to monitor. Additionally, if you wish to monitor APIs, have a good understanding of the API endpoints and parameters you want to test.

Awareness of User Scenarios: Before configuring synthetic tests, consider the critical user scenarios you want to replicate. These could include specific user journeys, transactions, or interactions that you want to monitor regularly.

Global Locations Selection: Synthetic tests allow you to choose specific global locations from where the tests will be performed. Consider your target audience and select relevant locations to ensure a comprehensive view of your application’s performance.

Scheduled Testing Frequency: Determine how frequently you want to run synthetic tests. You can schedule tests to run at regular intervals, such as every few minutes or hourly, depending on your monitoring needs.

Alerting Policies: Decide on alerting policies and thresholds. Configure alerts to notify you when specific performance metrics deviate from acceptable levels, enabling you to take immediate action when issues arise.

Email Configuration (Optional): If you want to receive email notifications for alerts, ensure that your email address is properly configured within the New Relic account.

By meeting these prerequisites, you’ll be well-prepared to configure Synthetic Monitoring in New Relic effectively. This powerful tool will then become your trusted ally in safeguarding your digital assets, ensuring optimal performance, and delivering seamless experiences to your audience.