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Web
Database Monitor 
The RouterDog Database Monitor checks that a database is working correctly
by connecting to it and performing a query. Optionally, it can check the
result for expected content.
Each time the Database Monitor runs, it returns a status, the time it
takes to perform the query, the number of rows in the query result, and
the first two fields in the first row of the result and writes them in the
monitoring log file.
If your Database application is not working properly, the user won't be
able to access web pages and forms that depend on the database. Most
importantly, the user won't be able to perform any e-commerce transactions
that use the database. The other reason to monitor database queries is so
you can find performance bottlenecks -- if your End User and Database
times are both increasing at about the same amount, the Database is
probably the bottleneck. If not, the bottleneck is probably somewhere
else.
The most important thing to monitor are the queries used by your most
frequently used and most important web applications. If more than one
database is used, you'll want to monitor each of the databases.
DNS Monitor
tests a DNS name server's responsivenessand its ability to accept incoming
sessions.
If the service fails to
accept a connection or respond in reference to a query, it is considered
to have malfunctioned and generates an alert.
FTP Monitor
tests the specified FTP server's ability to accept
incoming sessions and its responsiveness.
The FTP Monitor connects to the specified FTP server, then safely
disconnects (ensuring that it adheres to the FTP protocol). If the FTP
server indicates that it is unavailable RouterDog considers a
failure to have occurred.
GOPHER Monitor
tests the service for availability and responsiveness.
The GOPHER Monitor connects to the service, performs a blind query (CRLF)
and waits for a response. If the service connects and responds within the
"Timeout Intervals" the test is successful
HTTP Monitor
tests the specified Web server's ability to accept
incoming sessions and to conduct a transaction. A request for the default
page (/) is sent to ensure that the Web server is responding correctly to
the HTTP protocol.
Note: The HTTP Monitor causes the side effect of conducting traffic on the
specified Web site. While the number of bytes transmitted (as recognized by traffic
analysis software) will be zero, the
"hit count" for the default page will increase unless traffic from the
RouterDog host machine is somehow excluded from the calculations.
Please refer to your log analysis software documentation for specific
details.
IRC Monitor
tests a chat server's ability to accept incoming sessions
and its responsiveness.
The IRC Monitor connects to the chat server, attempts to log in and then
safely disconnects (ensuring that it adheres to the IRC protocol).
Note: RouterDog constructs both a user name and a "nick" name
based on the current time and attempts to log in.
Link Check Monitor
The RouterDog Link Check Monitor checks the internal and links on a web
site to insure that they can be reached. RouterDog begins checking links
from a URL that you specify, allowing you to check all or some of the
links on your site.
In addition to checking the links, a Link Report is created. This report
can be viewed by choosing the Summary link in the More column. The report
displays all the links checked, the status of each link, size, estimated
download time via a 28.8 connection, and the page containing the link. You
may reorder the entries in this table by clicking on the column heading
that you want the entries to be sorted by. For example, if you want the
entries to be sorted by retrieval time, click the Time column heading.
Each time the Link Check Monitor runs, it returns a status and writes it
in the monitoring log file. It also writes the total number of broken
links, the total number of links, the total number of graphics, and the
average time for retrieving a page.
NNTP Monitor
tests a news server's ability to accept incoming sessions
and its responsiveness.
The NNTP Monitor connects to the NNTP server and waits for the server to
indicate if it is available, then safely disconnects (ensuring that it
adheres to the NNTP protocol). If the news server indicates that it is
unavailable, RouterDog considers a failure to have occurred.
Web Gateway Monitoring
 (highly recommended as an addition to any
service)
This service enables RouterDog to distinguish between problems local to a
device, and connectivity problems of a larger scope such as an ISP or
backbone outage or degradation. This service is very helpful to determine
where and who is is experiencing the failure.
Website PING Monitor
tests the specified route between RouterDog's
host machine and an IP enabled computer or device. It sends an ICMP echo
request to the specified IP Address and waits for a valid response.
Note: Firewalls are commonly configured to disallow ICMP echo requests. In
this case RouterDog will be unable to Ping the specified address
unless the Firewall is configured to allow RouterDog to Ping it.
SSL Monitor
tests the specified Web server's ability to accept
incoming connections and conduct a secure transaction. It requests the
specified page and ensures that the Web server is adhering to the HTTP
protocol.
Note: The HTTP Monitor causes the side effect of conducting traffic on the
specified Web site. While the number of bytes transmitted (as recognized by traffic
analysis software) will remain at zero, the
"hit count" for the default page will increase unless traffic from the
RouterDog host machine is somehow excluded from the calculations.
Please refer to your log analysis software documentation for specific
details.
URL Monitor
The RouterDog URL Monitor is one of the most versatile and powerful Web
monitoring tools available to Webmasters. Its core function is to attempt
to reach a specified Web page to verify that it can be retrieved, but it
can also:
Check secure pages using SSL, 128 bit SSL, and client certificates
Check for specific content on the retrieved Web page
Check the Web page for change
Check for specific error messages
Check the Web page for a value
Retrieve detailed download information
Check XML
When RouterDog retrieves a Web page, it retrieves only the page's
contents; it doesn't automatically retrieve any of the objects linked from
the page, including images. You can, however, instruct RouterDog to
retrieve the images on the page by clicking the Retrieve Images box
located in the Advanced Options section of the Add Url Monitor Form. A
successful page retrieval assures you that your Web server is functioning
properly.
URL List Monitor
The RouterDog URL List Monitor is used to check a large list of URLs. This
monitor is commonly used by web hosting providers to measure the
availability and performance of their customer's web sites.
A URL List is specified by giving a filename containing the list of URLs
to check. For each URL, the monitor retrieves the contents of the page in
the same way a browser does.
Each time the URL List Monitor runs, it returns the number of errors and
writes it into the monitoring log file. It also writes the total number of
URLs checked and the average time to retrieve each URL. The URLs that you
want to monitor are listed in a plain text file and there's no limit to
the number that you can list.This file should be a text file and contain
one URL per line.
URL Transaction Monitor
The RouterDog URL Transaction Monitor simulates a user's session across
several pages. This is particularly useful for monitoring and testing
multiple-page e-commerce transactions and other online applications. For
example, RouterDog can enter an account name via a secure web form, check
an account status for the page that is returned, and then follow a
sequence of links through several more pages. URL Transaction Monitors are
also very useful for checking pages that include dynamically generated
information, such as session IDs, that are embedded in the web pages via
dynamic links or hidden input fields.
A URL transaction begins with a specific URL acting as the starting point
for the transaction followed by additional URLs, or more commonly, links
or buttons that a user would be required to select in order to complete a
specific transaction. For each step you may specify a match or error
string to search for, a user name and password to enter, POST data, and
many other optional criteria for that step.
Each time the URL Transaction Monitor runs it returns a reading and a
status and writes them in the monitoring log file. It also writes the
total time it takes to receive the designated document in the log file.
E-MAIL
IMAP4 Monitor
tests an IMAP4 mail server's ability to accept incoming
sessions and its responsiveness.
The IMAP4 Monitor connects to the specified IMAP4 mail server and waits
for the mail server to indicate if it is available, then safely
disconnects from the server (ensuring that it adheres to the IMAP4
protocol). If the mail server indicates that it is unavailable, Enterprise
Monitor considers a failure to have occurred.
E-mail Gateway Monitoring
(highly recommended as an addition to any
service)
This service enables RouterDog to distinguish between problems local to a
device, and connectivity problems of a larger scope such as an ISP or
backbone outage or degradation. This service is very helpful to determine
where and who is is experiencing the failure.
E-mail PING Monitor
tests the specified route between RouterDog's
host machine and an IP enabled computer or device. It sends an ICMP echo
request to the specified IP Address and waits for a valid response.
Note: Firewalls are commonly configured to disallow ICMP echo requests. In
this case RouterDog will be unable to Ping the specified address
unless the Firewall is configured to allow RouterDog to Ping it.
POP3 Monitor
tests a POP3 mail server's ability to accept incoming
sessions and its responsiveness.
The POP3 Monitor connects to the specified POP3 mail server and waits for
the mail server to indicate that it is available. It then disconnects from
the server (ensuring that it adheres to the POP3
protocol). If the mail server indicates that it is unavailable, RouterDog
considers a failure to have occurred.
SMTP Monitor
tests a SMTP mail server's ability to accept incoming
sessions and its responsiveness.
The SMTP Monitor connects to the specified SMTP mail server, introduces
itself and safely disconnects from the server (ensuring that it adheres to
the SMTP protocol). If the mail server indicates that it is unavailable,
RouterDog considers a failure to have occurred.
Network
Citrix Monitor 
tests a Citrix server's ability to accept incoming sessions and its
responsiveness. The Citrix Monitor connects to the Citrix server and waits
for the server to indicate if it is available, then safely disconnects
(ensuring that it adheres to the Citrix port operating). If the Citrix
server indicates that it is unavailable, RouterDog considers a failure to
have occurred.
Network Gateway Monitoring
(highly recommended as an addition to any
service)
This service enables RouterDog to distinguish between problems local to a
device, and connectivity problems of a larger scope such as an ISP or
backbone outage or degradation. This service is very helpful to determine
where and who is is experiencing the failure.
Network PING Monitor
tests the specified route between RouterDog's
host machine and an IP enabled computer or device. It sends an ICMP echo
request to the specified IP Address and waits for a valid response.
Note: Firewalls are commonly configured to disallow ICMP echo requests. In
this case RouterDog will be unable to Ping the specified address
unless the Firewall is configured to allow RouterDog to Ping it.
SNPP Monitor
(Simple Network Pager Protocol) tests a pager server's
ability to accept incoming sessions and its responsiveness.
The SNPP Monitor connects to the SNPP server and waits for the server to
indicate if it is available, then safely disconnects (ensuring that it
adheres to the SNPP protocol). If the pager server indicates that it is
unavailable, RouterDog considers a failure to have occurred.
TELNET Monitor
tests the ability of a TCP/IP based service to accept
incoming sessions and its responsiveness.
The TELNET Monitor connects to the service indicating that it is available
for incoming sessions, then disconnects.
Devices
Device Gateway Monitoring
(highly recommended as an addition to any
service)
This service enables RouterDog to distinguish between problems local to a
device, and connectivity problems of a larger scope such as an ISP or
backbone outage or degradation. This service is very helpful to determine
where and who is is experiencing the failure.
Router PING Monitor
tests the specified route between RouterDog's
host machine and an IP enabled computer or device. It sends an ICMP echo
request to the specified IP Address and waits for a valid response.
Note: Firewalls are commonly configured to disallow ICMP echo requests. In
this case RouterDog will be unable to Ping the specified address
unless the Firewall is configured to allow RouterDog to Ping it.
Port Monitor
The RouterDog Port Monitor verifies that a connection can be made to a
network port and measures the length of time it takes to make the
connection. Optionally, it can look for a string of text to be returned or
send a string of text once the connection is made. You must know the port
number you want monitored to use this service.
Each time the Port Monitor runs, it returns a reading and a status message
and writes them in the monitoring log file. It also writes the total time
it takes to receive a response from the remote service.
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