6 ms·

One other suggestion - One problem with these sorts of services is that when they're working, nothing happens, so if I don't get mails for a week, I don't know

by ooorrr 17y ago

One other suggestion - One problem with these sorts of services is that when they're working, nothing happens, so if I don't get mails for a week, I don't know if that's because everything's been working or if you've stopped running the service. There are lots of complex answers, but an easy one is just to have a "last checked" for each URL - it's ok if I have to go on-demand to make sure things are running. (A weekly/monthly update is nice too, just more work.)

robotrout 17y ago
Expanding on that idea a little. Store the proof of operation on the clients own server. Let them enter a url to a script on their own server, that you will POST to, whenever you check their server. The user can log POST's to a text file, DB, etc., so they know that you are actually monitoring them. When they see that you haven't POSTed to that file for a while, they know you're out of business, and they are unprotected. On second thought, make it easy on yourself, and use GET. It's not like there's anything confidential about it.
- uggedal 17y ago
  I've been thinking of implementing webhooks as an additional form of notification, but not as a a presence mechanism. I like the idea, but given the simple nature of the service I'd have to give it some thought before implementing something like this.
uggedal 17y ago
I'll give the "last checked" idea some thought. I'd need to store some additional data as I'm currently storing only abnormal behavior. Regarding the weekly/monthly update: this is something I'm averse to. Other services do this and it kind of bugs me each time I get these.
- ooorrr 17y ago
  I'm with you. I think the simplest solution is best here. I do expect you'll run into scenarios where last-checked-time will be data you'll want anyway...
thinkzig 17y ago
Another option might be a weekly uptime report. That way I still know you're in business and I get some useful information.
- uggedal 17y ago
  Sounds like a premium feature to me ;-)

by ooorrr 17y ago

robotrout 17y ago

Expanding on that idea a little. Store the proof of operation on the clients own server. Let them enter a url to a script on their own server, that you will POST to, whenever you check their server. The user can log POST's to a text file, DB, etc., so they know that you are actually monitoring them. When they see that you haven't POSTed to that file for a while, they know you're out of business, and they are unprotected. On second thought, make it easy on yourself, and use GET. It's not like there's anything confidential about it.

uggedal 17y ago
I've been thinking of implementing webhooks as an additional form of notification, but not as a a presence mechanism. I like the idea, but given the simple nature of the service I'd have to give it some thought before implementing something like this.

uggedal 17y ago

I'll give the "last checked" idea some thought. I'd need to store some additional data as I'm currently storing only abnormal behavior. Regarding the weekly/monthly update: this is something I'm averse to. Other services do this and it kind of bugs me each time I get these.

ooorrr 17y ago
I'm with you. I think the simplest solution is best here. I do expect you'll run into scenarios where last-checked-time will be data you'll want anyway...

thinkzig 17y ago

Another option might be a weekly uptime report. That way I still know you're in business and I get some useful information.

uggedal 17y ago
Sounds like a premium feature to me ;-)