Probe Server Addition [NV]

The following probe server will be added on 2023/04/26:

Las Vegas, Nevada (NV) – USA
(72.46.131.14 / 2605:6f80:0:d::100)

Please adjust your firewalls appropriately if you whitelist so your checks do not fail because of the probe IP address changes.

An always current and updated list of all the IP addresses for our probe servers can be found in the FAQ, a text file, and via DNS query, probes.nodeping.com.

[UPDATE – 2023-04-26 11:45GMT-7] – IP changes complete.

MongoDB Monitoring

Monitoring the availability of a MongoDB database just got a lot easier. Even better, you can monitor, track, graph, and alert on results from a query. That makes NodePing’s new MongoDB check so much more powerful than just uptime monitoring.

Some of the old-timers at NodePing remember when MongoDB hit the scene in 2009. Now the scrappy little fella is double digits old and is a major player in the NoSQL market so adding monitoring functionality for MongoDB was an easy choice.

Availability monitoring for MongoDB is pretty straightforward using the MongoDB connection URL. You can include authentication, host, and port information and we’ll do the rest.

But not everyone can poke a hole in their firewall so a service can keep an eye on their MongoDB instance. With NodePing AGENT checks, you can set up a private probe behind your firewall where your MongoDB checks can run and send their results to us for tracking and notifications. No firewall changes needed.

But wait, there’s more! (how cheesy does that sound?) Need to keep an eye on how many visitors are hitting your MongoDB powered website? Maybe you want to track how many downloads a particular file gets each day. With our MongoDB check, you can specify a query, track, and graph the results. Set a minimum and maximum range for numeric results or do an exact match or regex on string results. You’ll get notifications if the results are not what you’re expecting. If the information is in the database, we can query, track, and graph it.

For instructions on how to create your first MongoDB check, please see our documentation. If you don’t have a NodePing account yet, sign up for our free, 15-day trial and see how fast and accurate NodePing monitoring is for yourself.

Probe Server Removal [NV]

The following probe server will be removed immediately:

Las Vegas, Nevada (NV) – USA
(5.104.78.90 / 2602:fe90:700:2::100)

Please adjust your firewalls appropriately if you whitelist so your checks do not fail because of the probe IP address changes.

An always current and updated list of all the IP addresses for our probe servers can be found in the FAQ, a text file, and via DNS query, probes.nodeping.com.

Probe Server Addition [NV] and Removal [UT]

The following probe server will be added on 2022/11/30:

Las Vegas, Nevada (NV) – USA
(5.104.78.90 / 2602:fe90:700:2::100)

Additionally, we are also removing the following probe server on 2022/11/30:

Ogden, Utah (UT) – USA
(192.154.102.130 / 2606:c700:4020:17:225:90ff:fe50:390a)

Please adjust your firewalls appropriately if you whitelist so your checks do not fail because of the probe IP address changes.

An always current and updated list of all the IP addresses for our probe servers can be found in the FAQ, a text file, and via DNS query, probes.nodeping.com.

[UPDATE – 2022-11-30 12:18GMT-7] – IP changes complete.

MySQL Monitoring

Last month we released our PostgreSQL check with some great features to query, verify, and track result data. We knew some in the NodePing crowd favor MySQL so we put the nose to the grindstone to power up the MySQL check with the same tasty features.

You can ensure that the MySQL database and the host it’s on are available and responding. Optionally send a user-defined query and verify the responses is within your configured thresholds.

If the expected response is numeric, you can set a minimum and maximum threshold and NodePing will alert you if it’s too low or two high. This is handy to get alerts about application login errors or pretty much anything else you can numerically log in your database.

You can also match your query response to text, either by exact match or use a regex for powerful pattern matching. Get alerts when the text you’re expecting is missing.

The results, metric or text, are saved and tracked in your NodePing check history.

NodePing’s new MySQL monitoring is available now. If you don’t have a NodePing account, please sign up for a free, 15-day trial. Be the first to know when your database is offline.

PostgreSQL Monitoring

The database is the cardinal authority of modern website content. PostgreSQL, also known as Postgres or pg, is standing among the top 4 databases in 2022. It’s free and open-source and focuses on extensibility and SQL compliance.

If your database fails, your site may be responding but that all-important content will be missing. It’s best practice to monitor your database to make sure it’s online, responding to connections, and returning the data expected. NodePing’s new PostgreSQL check has got your postgres monitoring covered.

You can ensure that the database and the host it’s on are available and responding. You can also optionally send a query of your choice and verify that the response is within your configured threshold.

If the expected response is numeric, you can set a minimum and maximum threshold and NodePing will alert you if it’s too low or two high. This is handy to get alerts about application login errors or pretty much anything else you can numerically log in your database.

You can also match your query response to text, either by exact match or use a regex for powerful pattern matching.

NodePing’s new pg monitoring is available on all plans and accounts. If you don’t yet have a NodePing account, please sign up for a free, 15-day trial. We’re confident you’ll find our PostgreSQL monitoring fast and reliable.

MTR Check to Monitor Packet Loss

Packet loss and routing issues can impact any provider. Our newest check type, MTR, can help you detect and pinpoint the root of the problem. Faster detection and troubleshooting means less downtime for your websites and services.

The MTR command line tool has been around since 1997. Ask any graybeard sysadmin, they’re sure to be familiar with it. It’s great for revealing the presence of packet loss on a host and where along the route that packet loss starts.

Since routing is different for IPv6 than IPv4, you’ll want to create 2 MTR checks per host – one for your IPv4 address and another for the IPv6 address. You can either force IPv6 DNS resolution on your FQDN or use the IPv6 address itself as the check target.

MTR results from our probes is only half the story though. To get the full picture, you may need to run an MTR from your server. Use NodePing AGENT software to run MTR, PING, and nearly all our other check types from your server. It’s like having your own private NodePing probes. Results are quickly pushed to NodePing for processing and notifications.

No other network tool is more widely used among sysadmins for troubleshooting connectivity issues than MTR. Now you can automate it on both sides of the network using NodePing’s new MTR check.

If you don’t yet have a NodePing account, please sign up for our free, 15-day trial. Your graybeards will thank you.

SIP Monitoring Over TLS and Websockets

We’ve added TLS and Websocket support to our SIP check.

NodePing has supported UDP and TCP SIP monitoring for many years but more SIP services are being offered over TLS or Websockets now so we’ve added support for these transports for your SIP checks.

SIP over TLS uses the popular SSL/TLS transport to secure the SIP communications. If your TLS is misconfigured or has an expired certificate, your SIP check will fail.

SIP over websockets are used mostly for browser-based SIP services. Your SIP check can also be configured to use secure websockets, which adds TLS security to the websocket SIP communication.

Monitoring SIP over TLS and monitoring SIP over websockets are both available on all accounts. If you don’t yet have a NodePing account, please sign up for our free, 15-day trial and see for yourself why those who know use NodePing.

Redis Monitoring

Redis is a very popular key/value store used by many web applications for sessions, caching, or as a main datastore. Its lightning fast, in-memory model has three versatile modes: standalone, sentinel, and cluster.

  • Redis standalone instance runs on a single host and provides quick access to data.
  • Redis sentinel mode will provide automated failover to a secondary host should the primary be unavailable to the sentinels.
  • Redis cluster instance shards your data so even the largest datasets can be accessed with the near instantaneous response Redis is famous for.

NodePing’s Redis check can monitor availability of all three instance types. You’ll be the first to know if your Redis hosts or sentinels are offline.

The check connects to your Redis instance, runs an INFO command, and waits for a valid response. If our probe can’t connect, gets an authentication error, or receives no response, we’ll verify the outage and send notifications. The faster you know, the faster the fix, the more uptime.

Redis is often used as a mission-critical datastore. Don’t let a Redis outage go unnoticed. Use NodePing’s Redis monitoring.

If you don’t have a NodePing account yet, sign up for our free, 15-day trial and see for yourself why those who know use NodePing.

Private Key Authentication for SSH Monitoring

Now you can monitor your SSH services using private key authentication with NodePing’s SSH check.

NodePing has supported password authentication for SSH monitoring for many years but starting today we’ve added support for key-based authentication. You’ll be the first to know when SSH services are offline. Faster detection means faster intervention which means less downtime.

Our SSH check can not only verify that your SSH services are up and running but also match a string in the console output. It’s a great feature if you, for example, want to make sure your database is up and running but don’t want to punch another hole in your firewall. Have your login script run a CLI database query and pipe the output to stdout before closing the SSH connection. If the host is offline, or SSH isn’t working, or your database isn’t responding correctly, the check will fail and you’ll get quick notifications.

We have an important ‘SSH monitoring best practices‘ post over on the NodePing site to help you mitigate the risks associated with SSH monitoring. In particular, consideration should be given to the Security Considerations section.

We’ve also updated our Terms of Service to reflect this new functionality and its risks.

SSH private key authentication is available on the ‘Premiere‘ plan. If you don’t have a NodePing account yet, sign up for our free, 15-day trial and see for yourself how with NodePing you will be the first to know when important services are down.