How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

Q: What is the tool used for synthetic transaction monitoring?

Ping is very widely used for website availability monitors and it is a synthetic monitoring technique. Pingdom is more than just Ping, however, because it runs a range of tests from a selection of remote sites to examine load times and transaction performance on Web pages.

Q: Which type of synthetic monitoring will be used to monitor a work flow?

A company might use multiple API tests to monitor whether a specific workflow is working properly from end to end — this type of API monitoring is called a multistep API test.

Q: Why do we need synthetic monitoring?

The main benefit of synthetic monitoring is that it makes it possible to validate system performance and identify potential issues before they impact the actual end-user experience .

Q: Why is IT called synthetic monitoring?

This type of monitoring does not require actual traffic , thus the name synthetic, so it enables companies to test applications 24x7, or test new applications prior to a live customer-facing launch.

Are you looking to enhance the performhttps://jkstudentsblog.com/how-to-buy-anesthesia-machines-2023/ance and reliability of your applications? Synthetic monitoring is a powerful technique that can help you achieve this goal. In this article, we will explore how to get synthetic monitoring to work in New Relic, a leading application monitoring platform. By following these steps, you can leverage synthetic monitoring to gain valuable insights into your application’s performance and deliver a seamless user experience. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023] 20

Table of Contents

Introduction
Understanding Synthetic Monitoring
Benefits of Synthetic Monitoring
Getting Started with New Relic
Setting Up Synthetic Monitoring in New Relic
Configuring Synthetic Monitors
Defining Monitor Scripts
Monitoring Key User Flows
Analyzing Synthetic Monitoring Data
Troubleshooting and Issue Resolution
Best Practices for Synthetic Monitoring
Integrating Synthetic Monitoring with Real User Monitoring
Automating Synthetic Monitoring
Ensuring Security and Privacy in Synthetic Monitoring
Conclusion
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

1. Introduction

In today’s digital landscape, businesses heavily rely on applications to deliver services and engage with customers. However, ensuring optimal performance and availability of these applications can be challenging. Synthetic monitoring offers a proactive approach by simulating user interactions and monitoring the application’s response. New Relic provides a comprehensive platform that enables you to implement synthetic monitoring effectively. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

2. Understanding Synthetic Monitoring

Synthetic monitoring involves simulating user actions on a website or application to measure performance and availability. It mimics real user interactions, such as clicking links, submitting forms, and navigating through pages. Synthetic monitors are configured to periodically run these scripted actions from various geographic locations, providing valuable insights into the application’s performance from different perspectives. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

In today’s digital era, ensuring the optimal performance and availability of web applications is crucial for businesses. The experience of end-users directly impacts customer satisfaction, retention, and revenue generation. Synthetic monitoring is a powerful technique that enables organizations to proactively monitor their applications and ensure a seamless user experience. In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into the world of synthetic monitoring, exploring its definition, benefits, implementation best practices, real-world use cases, challenges, and future trends. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

2. What is Synthetic Monitoring?

Synthetic monitoring, also known as proactive monitoring or active monitoring, is a technique used to simulate user interactions with web applications, websites, or APIs. It involves generating artificial transactions that mimic real user behavior to monitor the performance, availability, and functionality of applications.

Synthetic monitoring uses predefined scripts or test scenarios to simulate user actions such as page visits, form submissions, API calls, and more. By executing these scripted transactions from various geographic locations, synthetic monitoring provides insights into the application’s behavior and performance from different perspectives. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

3. How Does Synthetic Monitoring Work?

Synthetic monitoring works by utilizing a network of monitoring nodes or agents that simulate user transactions. These nodes are strategically placed in different locations to mimic the user experience from various geographic regions. The synthetic monitoring process typically involves the following steps:

Scripting: A script or a set of scripts is created to simulate user actions, including navigating through pages, interacting with forms, clicking links, and performing specific transactions.
Monitoring Configuration: The synthetic monitoring tool or platform is configured with the scripts, specifying the URLs or endpoints to be monitored, frequency of monitoring, and alert conditions.
Execution: The synthetic monitoring tool initiates the execution of the scripted transactions from different monitoring nodes. These nodes simulate the actions of real users, accessing the application from various locations and devices.
Performance Measurement: During the execution of synthetic transactions, performance metrics such as response time, page load time, availability, and error rates are measured and recorded.
Alerting and Reporting: If any performance or availability thresholds are breached, alerts are triggered to notify the relevant stakeholders. Detailed reports and dashboards provide insights into the application’s performance and help in troubleshooting issues.

4. The Benefits of Synthetic Monitoring

Synthetic monitoring offers several benefits for organizations, including:

Proactive Issue Detection: Synthetic monitoring enables the early detection of performance issues, availability problems, or functionality failures before they impact real users. This proactive approach helps organizations address and resolve issues promptly.
Performance Optimization: By continuously monitoring key user journeys, synthetic monitoring identifies bottlenecks, performance degradation, or slow response times. This data helps organizations optimize their applications for improved performance and user experience.
Geographic Insights: Synthetic monitoring allows organizations to assess the performance of their applications from different geographic locations. This helps identify regional variations, latency issues, and opportunities for performance improvements across the globe.
Benchmarking and SLA Monitoring: Synthetic monitoring helps organizations set performance benchmarks and monitor compliance with service level agreements (SLAs). It provides quantitative data to measure and evaluate the performance of applications against defined standards.
Validation of Deployments and Updates: Synthetic monitoring validates the impact of deployments, updates, or configuration changes on application performance. It ensures that new releases or changes do not introduce any performance regressions or issues.

5. Key Features and Metrics to Monitor

When implementing synthetic monitoring, it is important to focus on key features and metrics that provide actionable insights. Some essential features and metrics to monitor include:

Page Load Time: Measuring the time taken for a web page to load provides insights into the application’s performance and the user experience.
Transaction Monitoring: Monitoring the response time and success rates of critical transactions such as login, checkout, or form submissions helps identify performance issues or failures in essential user flows.
Availability Monitoring: Tracking the uptime and availability of the application ensures that it is accessible to users at all times. Any downtime or availability issues can be promptly addressed.
Error Monitoring: Monitoring the occurrence and frequency of errors, such as HTTP errors or JavaScript errors, helps identify and resolve issues impacting the user experience.
Performance by Geographic Location: Monitoring performance metrics from different geographic locations provides insights into regional variations, latency issues, and opportunities for optimization.
Third-Party Service Monitoring: Monitoring the performance and availability of third-party services or APIs that the application relies on helps identify dependencies and potential bottlenecks.

6. Synthetic Monitoring Tools and Platforms

Several synthetic monitoring tools and platforms are available in the market, offering a wide range of features and capabilities. Some popular synthetic monitoring tools include:

New Relic Synthetics: New Relic Synthetics provides a comprehensive suite of synthetic monitoring capabilities, including browser and API testing, multi-location monitoring, and advanced scripting options.
Pingdom: Pingdom offers synthetic monitoring features for website and transaction monitoring, along with real user monitoring and server monitoring capabilities.
Dynatrace Synthetic Monitoring: Dynatrace Synthetic Monitoring provides end-to-end synthetic monitoring for web and mobile applications, including scriptless monitoring, global locations, and advanced reporting.
Uptime.com: Uptime.com offers synthetic monitoring for websites and APIs, allowing organizations to monitor performance, availability, and response times.

When selecting a synthetic monitoring tool or platform, consider factors such as ease of use, scalability, integration capabilities, reporting options, and pricing. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

7. Best Practices for Implementing Synthetic Monitoring

To ensure the successful implementation of synthetic monitoring, consider the following best practices:

Define Clear Objectives: Clearly define the objectives and goals of synthetic monitoring. Identify the key user flows and transactions that are critical for your application’s success.
Create Realistic Scripts: Develop scripts that closely mimic real user behavior and interactions with your application. Consider different scenarios, device types, and network conditions.
Monitor From Diverse Locations: Use monitoring nodes located in different geographic regions to capture performance variations and regional user experiences.
Set Realistic Alert Thresholds: Define alert thresholds based on realistic performance expectations and user impact. Avoid setting thresholds too tight, which may result in unnecessary alerts.
Regularly Review and Update: Continuously review and update your synthetic monitoring scripts and configurations to align with changes in your application. Ensure that new features, pages, or workflows are included in your monitoring scope.
Combine Synthetic and Real User Monitoring: Combine synthetic monitoring with real user monitoring (RUM) to gain a comprehensive understanding of your application’s performance. RUM captures data from actual users, providing insights into real-world experiences.
Collaborate Across Teams: Foster collaboration between development, operations, and monitoring teams to effectively utilize synthetic monitoring data for performance optimization and issue resolution.

8. Real-World Use Cases of Synthetic Monitoring

Synthetic monitoring has diverse applications across various industries and domains. Some real-world use cases include:

E-commerce: Synthetic monitoring ensures that online stores are performing optimally, providing a seamless shopping experience for customers. It monitors critical user journeys such as product search, add to cart, and checkout.
Banking and Finance: Synthetic monitoring helps financial institutions monitor their online banking platforms, ensuring secure and smooth transactions for customers. It validates the performance of fund transfers, account balance inquiries, and payment processes.
Healthcare: Synthetic monitoring ensures the availability and performance of healthcare applications, such as patient portals, appointment booking systems, and telemedicine platforms. It helps healthcare providers deliver efficient and reliable digital services to patients.
Travel and Hospitality: Synthetic monitoring monitors the performance of travel and hospitality websites, ensuring smooth browsing, booking, and reservation processes. It helps businesses maintain a competitive edge in the highly dynamic travel industry.
Gaming and Entertainment: Synthetic monitoring verifies the performance of online gaming platforms, streaming services, and media websites. It ensures smooth gameplay, fast content delivery, and uninterrupted user experiences.

9. Challenges and Limitations of Synthetic Monitoring

While synthetic monitoring offers significant benefits, it also has its challenges and limitations:

Limited Real-World Variability: Synthetic monitoring simulates user interactions based on predefined scripts, which may not capture the full variability of real user behavior. Real user monitoring (RUM) complements synthetic monitoring by providing insights into actual user experiences.
Script Maintenance: As applications evolve and change, synthetic monitoring scripts require regular maintenance and updates to accurately reflect the current user flows and functionalities.
Cost and Scalability: Implementing synthetic monitoring at a large scale across multiple locations can incur costs and scalability challenges. Organizations need to carefully plan their monitoring strategy and budget.
Security and Privacy: Synthetic monitoring involves sending simulated transactions to live applications, which may raise security and privacy concerns. It is important to ensure that sensitive information is not included in synthetic scripts and that appropriate access controls are in place. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

10. Future Trends and Innovations in Synthetic Monitoring

The field of synthetic monitoring is continually evolving, with emerging trends and innovations shaping its future. Some key trends to watch out for include:

AI-Powered Synthetic Monitoring: Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies are being integrated into synthetic monitoring tools to enhance performance analysis, anomaly detection, and predictive insights.
Scriptless Monitoring: Advancements in synthetic monitoring tools are enabling scriptless monitoring, where monitoring scenarios can be created without the need for manual scripting. This simplifies the implementation and maintenance process.
Real-Time Monitoring and Analytics: Real-time monitoring capabilities are becoming more prevalent, providing instant insights into application performance and user experiences. Advanced analytics help organizations identify patterns, trends, and anomalies in real-time.
Integration with APM and DevOps Tools: Synthetic monitoring is increasingly being integrated with application performance monitoring (APM) and DevOps tools to provide end-to-end visibility and facilitate seamless collaboration between development and operations teams.
Mobile and IoT Monitoring: With the proliferation of mobile applications and the Internet of Things (IoT), synthetic monitoring is expanding its scope to include monitoring of mobile apps and IoT devices. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

3. Benefits of Synthetic Monitoring

Synthetic monitoring offers several benefits for businesses:

Proactive Issue Detection: Synthetic monitors can detect performance issues and availability problems before they impact real users, allowing you to address them promptly.
Performance Optimization: By analyzing synthetic monitoring data, you can identify bottlenecks and optimize your application’s performance for a seamless user experience.
Geographic Insights: With synthetic monitoring, you can assess how your application performs across different regions, enabling you to identify areas for improvement and ensure consistent performance globally.
Benchmarking and SLA Monitoring: Synthetic monitoring helps you set performance benchmarks and monitor service level agreements (SLAs) to ensure your application meets the desired standards.
Competitive Analysis: By comparing your application’s performance with competitors, synthetic monitoring enables you to gain a competitive edge by delivering superior user experiences. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

4. Getting Started with New Relic

To leverage synthetic monitoring in New Relic, you need to sign up for a New Relic account and set up your application’s monitoring environment. Follow these steps to get started:

Visit the New Relic website at https://newrelic.com and sign up for an account.
Once you have an account, log in to the New Relic One platform.
Create an application and configure the required instrumentation for monitoring.
Familiarize yourself with New Relic’s user interface and navigation.

New Relic is a comprehensive APM tool that helps businesses monitor and optimize the performance of their applications. It offers real-time insights into your application’s health, performance, and user experience. With New Relic, you can identify bottlenecks, troubleshoot issues, and ensure the smooth functioning of your software. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

2. Key Features of New Relic

New Relic comes packed with a wide range of features designed to empower developers and IT professionals. Some of its key features include:

Real-time Application Monitoring: New Relic provides real-time visibility into your application’s performance, including response times, throughput, error rates, and database queries.
Transaction Tracing: You can trace individual transactions across different components of your application and identify the root cause of performance issues.
Server Monitoring: New Relic monitors server health and resource usage, allowing you to identify server-level bottlenecks and optimize resource allocation.
Mobile Application Monitoring: With New Relic, you can gain insights into the performance and user experience of your mobile applications.
Browser Monitoring: It enables you to track how your application performs in different browsers and identify any JavaScript errors affecting the user experience. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

New Relic is a leading APM tool trusted by organizations worldwide for monitoring and optimizing the performance of their applications. It provides real-time visibility into the health, performance, and user experience of software applications. Let’s delve into the key features that make New Relic an indispensable tool for developers and IT teams. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

2. Real-Time Application Monitoring

One of the standout features of New Relic is its real-time application monitoring capabilities. It enables you to track critical metrics such as response times, throughput, error rates, and database queries in real-time. With this information at your fingertips, you can proactively identify performance bottlenecks, diagnose issues, and ensure optimal application performance. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

3. Transaction Tracing

New Relic’s transaction tracing feature allows you to trace individual transactions across different components of your application. By following the journey of a specific transaction, you can pinpoint the exact point of performance degradation or error occurrence. Transaction tracing provides invaluable insights for troubleshooting and optimizing your application’s performance. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

4. Server Monitoring

New Relic’s server monitoring feature empowers you to keep a close eye on your server’s health and resource usage. You can monitor vital server metrics like CPU usage, memory utilization, disk I/O, and network traffic. By identifying server-level bottlenecks or resource constraints, you can proactively optimize resource allocation and ensure efficient server performance. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

5. Mobile Application Monitoring

In today’s mobile-centric world, monitoring the performance of mobile applications is crucial. New Relic offers dedicated mobile application monitoring features that allow you to gain insights into the performance and user experience of your mobile apps. You can track key metrics like app responsiveness, crashes, and user interactions, enabling you to deliver seamless mobile experiences. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

6. Browser Monitoring

New Relic’s browser monitoring feature lets you understand how your application performs in different browsers and how it impacts user experience. By tracking metrics like page load times, JavaScript errors, and AJAX requests, you can optimize your application for a wide range of browsers and ensure a smooth browsing experience for your users. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

7. Error Analytics

Errors and exceptions are inevitable in software development. New Relic’s error analytics feature helps you track and analyze application errors in real-time. It provides detailed error information, including error types, occurrence frequency, and affected transactions. With this data, you can prioritize bug fixes, enhance application stability, and deliver a seamless user experience. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

8. Infrastructure Monitoring

New Relic’s infrastructure monitoring feature allows you to gain visibility into your application’s underlying infrastructure components. You can monitor servers, containers, and cloud resources, and track key metrics like CPU usage, memory utilization, and disk space. Infrastructure monitoring helps you identify and resolve infrastructure-related issues that impact application performance. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

9. APM for Microservices

Microservices architecture has gained significant popularity due to its scalability and flexibility. New Relic provides robust APM support for microservices-based applications. It allows you to monitor and trace transactions across multiple microservices, ensuring visibility into the entire application ecosystem. With New Relic, you can effectively manage and optimize complex microservices architectures. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

10. Synthetic Monitoring

New Relic’s synthetic monitoring feature enables you to simulate user interactions with your application. It regularly performs predefined actions and monitors the response times and availability of critical user flows. Synthetic monitoring helps you proactively detect performance issues, validate application changes, and ensure a smooth user experience even before real users encounter potential problems. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

11. Database Monitoring

Databases play a vital role in application performance. New Relic’s database monitoring feature allows you to monitor the performance of your database systems. You can track database response times, query performance, and resource utilization. By optimizing database queries and identifying potential bottlenecks, you can significantly improve your application’s overall performance. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

12. Application Security

Application security is of utmost importance in today’s cybersecurity landscape. New Relic offers security-focused features that allow you to detect and mitigate security threats. It provides insights into potential vulnerabilities, monitors suspicious activities, and helps you ensure compliance with security standards. By integrating security monitoring with performance monitoring, New Relic enables you to maintain a robust and secure application environment. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

13. Insights and Analytics

New Relic’s insights and analytics features provide powerful data exploration and visualization capabilities. You can create custom dashboards, analyze historical performance trends, and gain actionable insights from your application’s data. These features empower you to make data-driven decisions, identify optimization opportunities, and continuously improve your application’s performance. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

14. Integration Capabilities

New Relic seamlessly integrates with a wide range of popular tools and platforms. You can integrate it with your existing DevOps, collaboration, and incident management tools. This integration enables you to centralize your monitoring and management workflows, streamline operations, and improve collaboration across teams. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

3. Setting Up New Relic

To get started with New Relic, follow these steps:

Sign up for a New Relic account on their official website.
Install the New Relic agent in your application’s runtime environment.
Configure the agent to monitor the desired components of your application.
Verify the installation by checking if data is being reported in the New Relic dashboard.

4. Instrumenting Your Application

Instrumenting your application with New Relic involves adding code snippets or libraries to your application’s codebase. This allows New Relic to collect data and provide insights into the performance of your application. The specific instructions for instrumenting your application will depend on the programming language and framework you are using. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

5. Monitoring and Analyzing Performance

Once your application is instrumented, New Relic will start collecting data and providing you with valuable performance insights. The New Relic dashboard presents this data in an intuitive and visually appealing manner. You can monitor key metrics, set up custom dashboards, and gain deep visibility into your application’s performance. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

In today’s highly competitive digital landscape, user experience is of utmost importance. Users have high expectations when it comes to application performance, and any slowdowns or glitches can result in user dissatisfaction and abandonment. Monitoring and analyzing the performance of your applications is crucial to ensure that they meet user expectations and deliver a seamless experience. This is where New Relic, with its comprehensive suite of monitoring and performance analysis tools, comes in. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

2. Why Monitoring and Analyzing Performance is Important

Monitoring and analyzing performance provide businesses with valuable insights into how their applications are functioning. By tracking key performance metrics, businesses can identify bottlenecks, pinpoint areas for improvement, and optimize their applications to deliver exceptional user experiences. Additionally, monitoring and analysis enable businesses to proactively detect and address issues before they impact users, ensuring high availability and reliability. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

3. New Relic APM: An Overview

New Relic APM is a comprehensive application performance monitoring solution that offers real-time visibility into the performance of your applications. It provides detailed insights and metrics, empowering businesses to make data-driven decisions and optimize their applications for peak performance. With New Relic APM, businesses can gain a holistic view of their application’s health, performance, and user experience. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

4. Real-Time Application Monitoring with New Relic

One of the key features of New Relic is its real-time application monitoring capabilities. With New Relic, businesses can monitor critical metrics such as response times, throughput, error rates, and database queries in real-time. This allows businesses to proactively identify performance issues, troubleshoot bottlenecks, and ensure optimal application performance. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

5. Transaction Tracing and Diagnostics

New Relic’s transaction tracing feature enables businesses to trace individual transactions across different components of their applications. This allows businesses to understand the journey of a specific transaction and identify performance bottlenecks or errors. Transaction tracing provides businesses with invaluable insights for troubleshooting and optimizing their application’s performance. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

6. Server Monitoring and Resource Utilization

New Relic’s server monitoring feature allows businesses to monitor the health and resource utilization of their servers. By tracking metrics such as CPU usage, memory utilization, disk I/O, and network traffic, businesses can identify server-level bottlenecks or resource constraints. This information empowers businesses to proactively optimize resource allocation and ensure efficient server performance. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

7. Mobile Application Performance Monitoring

As mobile applications continue to dominate the digital landscape, monitoring their performance is crucial. New Relic offers dedicated mobile application performance monitoring features that enable businesses to gain insights into the performance and user experience of their mobile apps. Metrics such as app responsiveness, crashes, and user interactions can be tracked, allowing businesses to deliver seamless mobile experiences. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

8. Browser Performance Monitoring

New Relic’s browser performance monitoring feature helps businesses understand how their applications perform in different browsers and how it impacts user experience. By tracking metrics such as page load times, JavaScript errors, and AJAX requests, businesses can optimize their applications for a wide range of browsers and ensure a smooth browsing experience for their users. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

9. Error Tracking and Analytics

Errors and exceptions are inevitable in software development. New Relic’s error tracking and analytics feature helps businesses track and analyze application errors in real-time. It provides detailed information about error types, occurrence frequency, and affected transactions. With this data, businesses can prioritize bug fixes, enhance application stability, and deliver a seamless user experience. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

10. Infrastructure Monitoring with New Relic

New Relic’s infrastructure monitoring feature allows businesses to gain visibility into the underlying infrastructure components of their applications. Servers, containers, and cloud resources can be monitored, and key metrics such as CPU usage, memory utilization, and disk space can be tracked. Infrastructure monitoring helps businesses identify and resolve infrastructure-related issues that impact application performance. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

11. APM for Microservices

Microservices architecture has gained significant popularity due to its scalability and flexibility. New Relic provides robust APM support for microservices-based applications. It allows businesses to monitor and trace transactions across multiple microservices, ensuring visibility into the entire application ecosystem. With New Relic, businesses can effectively manage and optimize complex microservices architectures. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

12. Synthetic Monitoring for Proactive Performance Management

New Relic’s synthetic monitoring feature enables businesses to simulate user interactions with their applications. It regularly performs predefined actions and monitors the response times and availability of critical user flows. Synthetic monitoring helps businesses proactively detect performance issues, validate application changes, and ensure a smooth user experience even before real users encounter potential problems. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

13. Database Performance Monitoring

Databases play a vital role in application performance. New Relic’s database performance monitoring feature allows businesses to monitor the performance of their database systems. Metrics such as database response times, query performance, and resource utilization can be tracked. By optimizing database queries and identifying potential bottlenecks, businesses can significantly improve their application’s overall performance. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

14. Analytics and Insights with New Relic

New Relic provides powerful analytics and insights capabilities. Businesses can create custom dashboards, analyze historical performance trends, and gain actionable insights from their application’s data. These features empower businesses to make data-driven decisions, identify optimization opportunities, and continuously improve their application’s performance. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

In today’s digital landscape, data security and privacy are of utmost importance. Businesses that rely on application performance monitoring solutions need assurance that their sensitive data is protected. New Relic understands this concern and prioritizes the security and privacy of your application data. In this article, we will explore how New Relic ensures the highest level of security and privacy for your valuable data. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

Introduction
Data Encryption and Transmission
Access Control and Authentication
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
Secure Storage and Infrastructure
Compliance and Certifications
Audit Logs and Monitoring
Incident Response and Remediation
Privacy Protection
Third-Party Data Sharing
Customer Support and Security Guidance
Continuous Security Improvements
Conclusion

1. Introduction

New Relic understands that security is a critical concern for businesses that rely on its application performance monitoring solutions. It recognizes the need to safeguard your sensitive data and ensures that security is embedded in every aspect of its platform. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

2. Data Encryption and Transmission

New Relic employs industry-standard encryption techniques to protect your data during transmission. All data sent between your applications and New Relic’s platform is encrypted using strong cryptographic protocols. This ensures that your data remains confidential and protected against unauthorized access. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

3. Access Control and Authentication

New Relic implements robust access control mechanisms to ensure that only authorized individuals can access your application data. User authentication is required to access the New Relic platform, and strong password policies are enforced to prevent unauthorized access. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) options are also available to add an extra layer of security. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

4. Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

New Relic’s platform incorporates Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), allowing businesses to define granular access controls based on roles and responsibilities. This ensures that users have appropriate access privileges to perform their tasks while preventing unauthorized access to sensitive data. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

5. Secure Storage and Infrastructure

New Relic ensures the secure storage of your application data. Data is stored in highly secure data centers that adhere to industry best practices. The infrastructure is designed to withstand security threats, including physical and logical attacks, and is continuously monitored and updated to mitigate potential vulnerabilities. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

6. Compliance and Certifications

New Relic is committed to maintaining compliance with industry standards and regulations. It undergoes regular audits and assessments to ensure adherence to security and privacy standards. New Relic’s platform is compliant with industry frameworks such as SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and GDPR, providing businesses with confidence in the security of their data. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

7. Audit Logs and Monitoring

New Relic maintains comprehensive audit logs to track user activities and system events. These logs enable businesses to monitor and analyze system behavior, detect any suspicious activities, and investigate potential security incidents. Real-time monitoring ensures timely detection and response to any security threats. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

8. Incident Response and Remediation

In the event of a security incident, New Relic has a robust incident response process in place. The security team promptly investigates and mitigates any security issues, and the affected parties are notified as per the incident response plan. New Relic is committed to transparent communication and takes appropriate measures to remediate any vulnerabilities or risks. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

9. Privacy Protection

New Relic understands the importance of privacy and is dedicated to protecting your application data. It adheres to strict privacy policies and ensures that your data is processed and used in compliance with applicable privacy laws and regulations. New Relic does not access your application’s sensitive data unless explicitly authorized by you. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

10. Third-Party Data Sharing

New Relic does not share your application data with third parties, except as required to provide the requested services or as mandated by legal obligations. New Relic’s commitment to data privacy means that your valuable data remains within your control and is not shared without your explicit consent. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

11. Customer Support and Security Guidance

New Relic provides comprehensive customer support and guidance to help businesses optimize their security practices. The support team is available to address any security-related queries or concerns. New Relic also offers security best practices and guidance to help businesses enhance their security posture. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

12. Continuous Security Improvements

New Relic is committed to continuous improvement in security measures. It regularly updates its security practices and infrastructure to address emerging threats and vulnerabilities. By staying abreast of the latest security trends and technologies, New Relic ensures that your application data remains secure and protected. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

6. Alerting and Incident Management

New Relic allows you to set up custom alerts based on performance thresholds. When an alert is triggered, you can receive notifications via email, SMS, or other communication channels. This helps you proactively address performance issues and minimize downtime. New Relic also offers incident management capabilities, enabling you to track and resolve incidents efficiently. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

7. Application Optimization

Using the data and insights provided by New Relic, you can optimize your application’s performance. Identify slow database queries, memory leaks, or inefficient code segments, and take corrective actions. By continuously monitoring and optimizing your application, you can enhance user experience and increase customer satisfaction. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

8. Security and Compliance

New Relic prioritizes the security and privacy of your application data. It adheres to industry-standard security practices and offers features such as data encryption, access controls, and compliance certifications. You can trust New Relic to handle your sensitive application data securely. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

Introduction
Data Encryption and Transmission
Access Control and Authentication
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
Secure Storage and Infrastructure
Compliance and Certifications
Audit Logs and Monitoring
Incident Response and Remediation
Privacy Protection
Third-Party Data Sharing
Customer Support and Security Guidance
Continuous Security Improvements
Conclusion

1. Introduction

2. Data Encryption and Transmission

3. Access Control and Authentication

4. Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

5. Secure Storage and Infrastructure

6. Compliance and Certifications

7. Audit Logs and Monitoring

8. Incident Response and Remediation

9. Privacy Protection

10. Third-Party Data Sharing

11. Customer Support and Security Guidance

12. Continuous Security Improvements

9. Integrations with Other Tools

New Relic integrates seamlessly with various other tools and platforms, including popular cloud providers, deployment automation tools, and collaboration platforms. This allows you to centralize your monitoring and management workflows, improving efficiency and collaboration within your development and operations teams. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

10. New Relic Pricing Plans

New Relic offers different pricing plans to suit the needs of businesses of all sizes. The pricing is based on factors such as the number of hosts, applications, and features required. It is recommended to visit the New Relic website to explore the pricing options and choose the plan that best fits your requirements. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

11. Best Practices for Using New Relic

To make the most out of New Relic, consider the following best practices:

Set up meaningful alerts based on your application’s specific requirements.
Regularly review and analyze the data provided by New Relic to identify optimization opportunities.
Collaborate with your team to interpret and act upon the insights from New Relic.
Stay updated with New Relic’s new features and enhancements to leverage the latest capabilities.

New Relic is a powerful application performance monitoring solution that provides businesses with valuable insights into their application’s performance and user experience. To make the most out of New Relic’s capabilities, it’s important to follow best practices that ensure optimal usage and maximize the benefits for your organization. In this article, we will explore the best practices for using New Relic and how they can help you gain actionable insights and improve your application performance. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

Introduction
Plan Your Monitoring Strategy
Instrument Key Components
Set Up Custom Dashboards
Define Relevant Alerts
Establish Performance Baselines
Analyze and Act on Data
Collaborate Across Teams
Regularly Review and Optimize
Leverage New Relic Community and Resources
Stay Updated with New Features
Conclusion

1. Introduction

New Relic offers a comprehensive set of features for monitoring and analyzing application performance. By implementing best practices, you can effectively leverage New Relic to gain deep insights into your application, proactively identify and address performance issues, and optimize user experiences. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

2. Plan Your Monitoring Strategy

Before diving into New Relic, it’s essential to define your monitoring strategy. Identify the key components and metrics that are crucial for your application’s performance. Determine the performance goals and user experience benchmarks you want to achieve. By having a clear monitoring strategy in place, you can focus your efforts on monitoring the most critical aspects of your application. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

3. Instrument Key Components

To gather meaningful data, it’s important to instrument the key components of your application. Instrumentation involves adding New Relic agents to your application code, enabling the collection of performance metrics and data. Make sure to instrument critical components such as web servers, application servers, databases, and any external services your application relies on. Proper instrumentation ensures comprehensive visibility into your application’s performance. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

4. Set Up Custom Dashboards

New Relic allows you to create custom dashboards tailored to your specific monitoring needs. Take advantage of this feature by setting up dashboards that provide a holistic view of your application’s performance. Include relevant metrics, charts, and visualizations that help you quickly assess the health and performance of your application. Custom dashboards make it easier to identify trends, spot anomalies, and take prompt action. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

5. Define Relevant Alerts

Configure alerts in New Relic to notify you when specific performance thresholds or anomalies are detected. Define relevant alert conditions based on your application’s performance goals and critical metrics. Ensure that alerts are actionable and provide enough information to identify and resolve issues efficiently. Fine-tune your alerting strategy over time to minimize false positives and focus on the most critical performance issues. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

In today’s digital landscape, monitoring the performance of your applications is crucial to ensure optimal user experiences and business success. New Relic is a leading application performance monitoring solution that provides businesses with valuable insights into their application’s performance and user behavior. One of the key features of New Relic is its ability to notify you when specific performance thresholds or anomalies are detected. In this article, we will explore how New Relic leverages this feature to help you proactively address performance issues and optimize your applications. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

Introduction
Setting Performance Thresholds
Defining Anomaly Detection Rules
Real-Time Notifications
Customizing Alert Channels
Collaborative Incident Management
Analyzing Performance Data
Proactive Performance Optimization
Best Practices for Effective Notification Management
Conclusion

1. Introduction

New Relic is a powerful application performance monitoring tool that enables businesses to gain deep insights into their application’s performance, user behavior, and system health. One of its core functionalities is the ability to notify you when specific performance thresholds or anomalies are detected. These notifications play a crucial role in helping you identify and address performance issues promptly, minimizing the impact on user experiences and business operations. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

2. Setting Performance Thresholds

New Relic allows you to define performance thresholds for various metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) specific to your application. Performance thresholds are pre-defined limits that indicate when a specific metric exceeds or falls below an acceptable range. By setting performance thresholds in New Relic, you can establish baseline performance expectations and be alerted when deviations occur. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

For example, you can set a threshold for response time, specifying the maximum acceptable response time for your application. When the response time exceeds this threshold, New Relic will trigger a notification, alerting you to the performance degradation. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

3. Defining Anomaly Detection Rules

In addition to setting performance thresholds, New Relic also provides the capability to define anomaly detection rules. Anomaly detection leverages machine learning algorithms and statistical analysis to identify unusual patterns or deviations from normal behavior in your application’s performance data. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

Anomaly detection rules in New Relic enable you to detect performance anomalies that may not be captured by static performance thresholds alone. By analyzing historical data and learning from normal performance patterns, New Relic can automatically detect and notify you of unexpected performance variations. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

4. Real-Time Notifications

When New Relic detects a performance threshold violation or anomaly, it sends real-time notifications to alert you of the issue. These notifications can be delivered through various channels, including email, SMS, chat applications, or custom integrations with incident management tools. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

Real-time notifications ensure that you are promptly informed about performance issues, allowing you to take immediate action. This enables you to proactively address performance degradation, investigate the root cause, and resolve the issue before it impacts your users or business operations. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

5. Customizing Alert Channels

New Relic offers flexibility in customizing alert channels to suit your team’s preferences and incident management processes. You can configure notifications to be sent to specific individuals or groups within your organization, ensuring that the right stakeholders are notified promptly. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

Additionally, New Relic supports integrations with popular incident management tools, such as PagerDuty or Slack, enabling seamless communication and collaboration across teams. This integration streamlines the incident response process, allowing for faster incident resolution and minimizing downtime. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

6. Collaborative Incident Management

New Relic provides features for collaborative incident management, ensuring that performance issues are addressed effectively by the relevant teams. When a notification is triggered, New Relic allows you to assign the incident to specific team members, track the incident’s status, and facilitate communication within the incident management workflow. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

Collaborative incident management enables cross-functional teams, such as development, operations, and support, to work together in resolving performance issues. This collaborative approach helps accelerate the incident resolution process and promotes efficient collaboration and knowledge sharing. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

7. Analyzing Performance Data

New Relic not only notifies you when performance thresholds or anomalies are detected but also provides detailed performance data for analysis. By diving into the performance data, you can gain deeper insights into the root causes of performance issues and identify areas for improvement. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

New Relic offers comprehensive performance metrics, charts, and visualizations that enable you to analyze trends, patterns, and correlations in your application’s performance data. This empowers you to make data-driven decisions and take targeted actions to optimize your application’s performance. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

8. Proactive Performance Optimization

By leveraging the notification feature in New Relic, you can adopt a proactive approach to performance optimization. Timely notifications allow you to detect performance issues early and address them before they escalate into critical problems. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

When you receive a notification, you can leverage New Relic’s monitoring capabilities to analyze the issue, identify potential bottlenecks, and implement optimizations. Whether it’s optimizing database queries, fine-tuning server configurations, or improving code efficiency, New Relic provides the insights you need to optimize your application’s performance and enhance user experiences. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

9. Best Practices for Effective Notification Management

To make the most of New Relic’s notification feature, it’s important to follow best practices for effective notification management. Here are a few recommendations:

Define clear and actionable notification thresholds: Ensure that your performance thresholds are set at appropriate levels that indicate meaningful deviations from expected performance.
Avoid alert fatigue: Fine-tune your notifications to minimize false positives and focus on critical issues that require immediate attention.
Establish escalation paths: Define escalation paths and notification hierarchies to ensure that notifications reach the right individuals or teams based on the severity and impact of the performance issue.
Regularly review and optimize: Periodically review your notification settings, performance thresholds, and anomaly detection rules to ensure they align with your evolving application and business needs.

6. Establish Performance Baselines

Establishing performance baselines is crucial for effective monitoring. Baselines serve as reference points to evaluate performance improvements or regressions. Monitor your application’s performance over a period of time to identify normal performance patterns. Use this data to establish baselines for key metrics. Comparing current performance against established baselines helps you identify deviations and take corrective actions proactively. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

7. Analyze and Act on Data

New Relic provides a wealth of data and insights into your application’s performance. Regularly analyze this data to identify trends, patterns, and potential bottlenecks. Pay attention to key metrics such as response times, error rates, throughput, and resource utilization. Leverage New Relic’s analytics capabilities to derive meaningful insights and take data-driven actions to optimize your application’s performance.

8. Collaborate Across Teams

Application performance is a collective effort that involves various teams such as development, operations, and business stakeholders. Encourage collaboration across these teams by providing shared access to New Relic’s performance data, dashboards, and reports. Foster a culture of cross-functional collaboration to effectively identify and resolve performance issues, align priorities, and continuously improve your application’s performance. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

9. Regularly Review and Optimize

Monitor your application’s performance regularly and conduct periodic reviews to assess the effectiveness of your monitoring strategy. Identify areas for improvement and optimization. Analyze historical data to understand long-term trends and identify opportunities for performance enhancements. Continuously optimize your monitoring approach based on evolving requirements and changing application dynamics. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

10. Leverage New Relic Community and Resources

New Relic has a vibrant community of users and resources that can help you make the most of the platform. Engage with the New Relic community through forums, user groups, and online communities. Learn from others’ experiences, share best practices, and get valuable insights. Additionally, explore New Relic’s documentation, knowledge base, and educational resources to deepen your understanding of the platform’s features and capabilities. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

11. Stay Updated with New Features

New Relic frequently releases updates and new features to enhance its capabilities. Stay informed about these updates and ensure that you are leveraging the latest features and functionalities. Regularly review New Relic’s release notes and product updates to discover new ways to optimize your application’s performance monitoring and gain additional insights. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

5. Setting Up Synthetic Monitoring in New Relic

To enable synthetic monitoring in New Relic, you need to activate the Synthetics module and configure monitors. Here’s how you can do it:

In the New Relic One platform, navigate to the Synthetics tab.
Click on “Manage Your Monitors” to access the synthetic monitoring configuration.
Activate the Synthetics module if it is not already enabled.
Configure the necessary settings for synthetic monitors, including locations, frequency, and alert conditions.

6. Configuring Synthetic Monitors

In New Relic, synthetic monitors are used to simulate user interactions with your application. Here’s how you can configure synthetic monitors:

Access the synthetic monitoring configuration in New Relic One.
Click on “Create a New Monitor” to start the configuration process.
Define the monitor type based on your application’s requirements (e.g., Simple Browser, Scripted Browser, or API Test).
Specify the target URL or API endpoint that the monitor should interact with.
Customize additional settings such as monitor name, frequency, and alert conditions. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

7. Defining Monitor Scripts

For more advanced scenarios, you can create monitor scripts that simulate complex user flows. Monitor scripts allow you to interact with your application in a scripted manner. Here’s how you can define monitor scripts in New Relic:

Access the synthetic monitoring configuration in New Relic One How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]
Navigate to the monitor you want to configure a script for.
Click on “Add Script” to define the script’s actions and interactions.
Use the provided scripting language to simulate user actions and extract relevant data from the application.

8. Monitoring Key User Flows

Identifying and monitoring key user flows in your application is crucial for ensuring optimal performance. By monitoring specific user flows, you can gain insights into potential bottlenecks and optimize them. Here are the steps to monitor key user flows in New Relic:

Analyze your application’s user journey and identify critical paths.
Create separate synthetic monitors for each key user flow.
Configure the monitors to simulate the actions performed by real users.
Set up appropriate alert conditions to notify you of any performance deviations.

9. Analyzing Synthetic Monitoring Data

New Relic provides comprehensive analytics and reporting capabilities for synthetic monitoring data. Analyzing this data can help you identify trends, performance issues, and areas for improvement. Here’s how you can analyze synthetic monitoring data in New Relic:

Access the synthetic monitoring dashboard in New Relic One.
Explore the available performance metrics and reports.
Utilize filters and grouping options to drill down into specific areas of interest.
Set up custom dashboards to monitor the metrics that are most relevant to your application.

10. Troubleshooting and Issue Resolution

When using synthetic monitoring, you may encounter issues or performance bottlenecks. New Relic provides tools and features to help troubleshoot and resolve these issues efficiently. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023] Follow these steps for effective troubleshooting:

Analyze the synthetic monitoring data to identify patterns or anomalies.
Utilize New Relic’s error analysis features to pinpoint the root cause of issues.
Collaborate with your development and operations teams to resolve the identified issues.
Monitor the impact of the implemented fixes using synthetic monitoring and real user monitoring.

11. Best Practices for Synthetic Monitoring

To maximize the effectiveness of synthetic monitoring in New Relic, consider the following best practices:

Regularly review and update your synthetic monitors to align with changes in your application. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]
Leverage multiple geographic locations for synthetic monitors to ensure global coverage. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]
Configure alert notifications to receive timely alerts when performance or availability issues occur. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]
Combine synthetic monitoring with real user monitoring to gain a comprehensive view of your application’s performance. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]
Continuously analyze and optimize your application based on insights from synthetic monitoring data. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

12. Integrating Synthetic Monitoring with Real User Monitoring

While synthetic monitoring provides valuable insights, it is essential to complement it with real user monitoring (RUM). Real user monitoring captures performance data from actual users, giving you a complete picture of your application’s performance. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023] Here’s how you can integrate synthetic monitoring with real user monitoring in New Relic:

Enable real user monitoring in your New Relic application. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]
Combine synthetic monitoring data with real user monitoring data in New Relic dashboards. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]
Compare and correlate performance metrics from synthetic monitoring and real user monitoring to identify discrepancies or trends. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

In today’s digital landscape, monitoring the performance of your applications is crucial to ensure optimal user experiences and business success. Synthetic monitoring and real user monitoring (RUM) are two powerful techniques that provide valuable insights into your application’s performance. Integrating these two monitoring approaches can offer a comprehensive view of your application’s performance and help you optimize its overall performance. In this article, we will explore the benefits of integrating synthetic monitoring with real user monitoring and discuss best practices for effective implementation. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

Introduction
Understanding Synthetic Monitoring
Understanding Real User Monitoring
Benefits of Integrating Synthetic Monitoring with RUM
Comprehensive Performance Visibility
Early Detection of Performance Issues
Validation of Real User Experience
Improved Root Cause Analysis
Best Practices for Integrating Synthetic Monitoring with RUM
Conclusion

1. Introduction

Monitoring the performance of your applications is essential to ensure that they are delivering the best possible user experiences. Synthetic monitoring and real user monitoring are two distinct but complementary approaches that provide insights into your application’s performance. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

Synthetic monitoring involves simulating user interactions with your application using automated scripts or bots. It helps you monitor the performance of critical transactions, APIs, or workflows from various geographical locations at regular intervals. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

On the other hand, real user monitoring captures performance data from actual user interactions with your application. It collects data on real user experiences, including page load times, network latency, and user interactions, providing insights into the actual performance experienced by your users. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

Integrating synthetic monitoring with real user monitoring can provide a holistic view of your application’s performance, enabling you to identify and resolve performance issues proactively. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

2. Understanding Synthetic Monitoring

Synthetic monitoring involves simulating user interactions with your application using automated scripts or bots. These synthetic transactions are designed to replicate common user actions, such as logging in, making a purchase, or submitting a form. Synthetic monitoring tools execute these transactions at regular intervals from various geographical locations, measuring response times, availability, and other performance metrics. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

By leveraging synthetic monitoring, you can proactively monitor critical transactions and workflows, even when there are no real users interacting with your application. It helps you identify performance bottlenecks, infrastructure issues, or third-party service dependencies that may impact the user experience. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

3. Understanding Real User Monitoring

Real user monitoring (RUM) captures performance data from actual user interactions with your application. It provides insights into the real-time performance experienced by your users, including page load times, network latency, and user interactions. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

RUM collects performance data using JavaScript tags embedded in your web pages or mobile applications. These tags capture data on user interactions, network requests, and rendering times, allowing you to understand the performance from the end-user’s perspective. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

By analyzing RUM data, you can identify performance issues specific to certain user segments, geographic locations, or devices. This information helps you prioritize optimizations and improve the overall user experience. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

4. Benefits of Integrating Synthetic Monitoring with RUM

Integrating synthetic monitoring with real user monitoring offers several benefits that help optimize your application’s performance and deliver exceptional user experiences. Let’s explore some of these benefits:

5. Comprehensive Performance Visibility

Synthetic monitoring provides a proactive view of your application’s performance by simulating user interactions. It helps you identify performance issues before real users are impacted. On the other hand, RUM provides insights into the actual user experience. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

By integrating these two monitoring approaches, you gain a comprehensive view of your application’s performance. You can compare the synthetic monitoring results with real user data to understand if the synthetic transactions accurately represent the actual user experience. This comparison helps you identify gaps and discrepancies, allowing you to fine-tune your synthetic monitoring scripts and make them more representative of real user behavior. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

6. Early Detection of Performance Issues

Integrating synthetic monitoring with RUM enables early detection of performance issues. Synthetic monitoring allows you to set performance thresholds and receive alerts when these thresholds are breached. This early warning system helps you proactively address potential performance issues before they impact real users. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

RUM complements synthetic monitoring by capturing data on actual user interactions. By analyzing RUM data, you can identify performance issues experienced by real users and validate whether the synthetic monitoring results align with the actual user experience. This integration helps you detect and resolve performance issues at the earliest possible stage. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

7. Validation of Real User Experience

Synthetic monitoring provides a controlled environment for monitoring performance, but it may not always reflect the real user experience accurately. By integrating synthetic monitoring with RUM, you can validate the performance observed in synthetic transactions against the actual performance experienced by real users. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

RUM data allows you to understand the performance variations across different user segments, devices, and geographical locations. You can identify whether certain user segments are experiencing slower performance or if specific devices or browsers are causing issues. This validation helps you prioritize optimizations and ensure that your application delivers a consistent and reliable user experience. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

8. Improved Root Cause Analysis

When performance issues arise, it is crucial to identify the root cause and take appropriate actions for resolution. Integrating synthetic monitoring with RUM enhances your root cause analysis capabilities. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

Synthetic monitoring provides a detailed breakdown of transaction timings and performance metrics. When a synthetic transaction fails or experiences performance degradation, you can correlate it with RUM data to understand if real users are also impacted. This correlation helps you narrow down the potential causes of performance issues, such as infrastructure problems or third-party service dependencies. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

By having a holistic view of both synthetic and real user data, you can troubleshoot and resolve performance issues more efficiently, reducing mean time to resolution (MTTR) and minimizing the impact on user experiences. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023]

9. Best Practices for Integrating Synthetic Monitoring with RUM

To effectively integrate synthetic monitoring with real user monitoring, consider the following best practices:

Align synthetic transactions with real user behavior: Ensure that the synthetic monitoring scripts accurately simulate common user interactions and workflows. Regularly update and fine-tune the scripts to reflect changes in your application.
Establish performance thresholds: Set meaningful performance thresholds for synthetic transactions to trigger alerts. Continuously review and adjust these thresholds based on actual user experiences and business requirements.
Correlate synthetic and real user data: Compare the performance observed in synthetic transactions with the actual user experience captured through RUM data. Identify gaps and discrepancies to improve the accuracy of synthetic monitoring.
Leverage RUM data for optimization: Analyze RUM data to identify performance issues experienced by real users. Use this data to prioritize optimizations and improve the overall user experience.
Continuously monitor and iterate: Monitoring performance is an ongoing process. Continuously monitor both synthetic and real user data, identify areas for improvement, and iterate on your monitoring strategy to ensure optimal performance.

13. Automating Synthetic Monitoring

Automating synthetic monitoring tasks can save time and ensure continuous monitoring of your applications. New Relic offers automation capabilities to streamline your monitoring workflows. How to Get Synthetic Monitoring to Work in New Relic [2023] Here are some ways to automate synthetic monitoring in New Relic:

Utilize New Relic APIs to programmatically create and manage synthetic monitors.
Integrate synthetic monitoring with your CI/CD pipeline to automatically add or update monitors as part of your deployment process.
Schedule regular reports and alerts to keep you informed about your application’s performance.

14. Ensuring Security and Privacy in Synthetic Monitoring

When implementing synthetic monitoring, it is crucial to consider security and privacy aspects. Follow these guidelines to ensure the security of your application and protect user data:

Avoid including sensitive or personally identifiable information in synthetic monitor scripts.
Implement appropriate access controls and permissions to restrict access to synthetic monitoring configurations.
Regularly review and update your synthetic monitors to align with security best practices.
Monitor and audit synthetic monitoring activities to detect any unauthorized access or suspicious behavior.

Synthetic monitoring is a powerful technique for proactively monitoring the performance and availability of your applications. However, it is essential to prioritize the security and privacy of your application and user data when implementing synthetic monitoring solutions. In this article, we will explore the importance of security and privacy in synthetic monitoring and discuss best practices to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of your data.

Introduction
Understanding Synthetic Monitoring
Security Risks in Synthetic Monitoring
Protecting Confidentiality in Synthetic Monitoring
Ensuring Data Integrity in Synthetic Monitoring
Preserving Availability in Synthetic Monitoring
Best Practices for Secure Synthetic Monitoring
Data Encryption and Transmission
Role-Based Access Control
Secure Test Script Development and Storage
Compliance with Data Protection Regulations
Regular Security Audits and Monitoring
Conclusion

1. Introduction

Synthetic monitoring involves simulating user interactions with your applications to measure their performance and availability. It helps you proactively identify and address performance issues before they impact real users. While synthetic monitoring offers numerous benefits, it also introduces security risks that must be addressed to protect your application and user data.

2. Understanding Synthetic Monitoring

Synthetic monitoring works by executing predefined scripts or transactions that simulate user interactions with your applications. These scripts run at regular intervals from various locations to measure response times, availability, and other performance metrics. Synthetic monitoring helps you ensure that your applications are functioning optimally and delivering the best possible user experience.

3. Security Risks in Synthetic Monitoring

Implementing synthetic monitoring requires careful consideration of security risks to protect your application and user data. Some common security risks in synthetic monitoring include:

Data exposure: Synthetic monitoring involves sending requests to your applications, which may contain sensitive data. If this data is intercepted or exposed, it can lead to unauthorized access or data breaches.
Script vulnerabilities: Test scripts used in synthetic monitoring can be vulnerable to injection attacks or other security vulnerabilities. If not properly secured, these scripts can be exploited to gain unauthorized access or disrupt your applications.
Credential management: Synthetic monitoring often requires authentication credentials to simulate user interactions. If these credentials are not securely managed, they can be compromised and used maliciously.
Network vulnerabilities: Synthetic monitoring involves transmitting data over networks, which can be intercepted or tampered with if the appropriate security measures are not in place.
Data storage: Synthetic monitoring data, including scripts and performance metrics, needs to be securely stored to prevent unauthorized access or tampering.

4. Protecting Confidentiality in Synthetic Monitoring

To protect the confidentiality of your data in synthetic monitoring, consider the following best practices:

Data encryption: Encrypt all sensitive data transmitted during synthetic monitoring, including request parameters, authentication credentials, and response data. This ensures that even if intercepted, the data remains unreadable.
Secure storage: Store synthetic monitoring data, including test scripts and performance metrics, in secure storage locations. Apply appropriate access controls and encryption to prevent unauthorized access.
Credentials management: Implement secure credential management practices, such as storing credentials in encrypted form and rotating them regularly. Avoid hard-coding credentials in test scripts or exposing them in logs or error messages.

5. Ensuring Data Integrity in Synthetic Monitoring

Maintaining data integrity is crucial to ensure the accuracy and reliability of synthetic monitoring results. Consider the following best practices:

Data validation: Validate the integrity of synthetic monitoring data by comparing expected results with actual results. Implement error handling and anomaly detection mechanisms to identify any tampering or unauthorized modifications.
Secure test script development: Implement secure coding practices when developing test scripts to prevent vulnerabilities like injection attacks. Validate and sanitize all inputs to prevent malicious code execution or unauthorized access.

6. Preserving Availability in Synthetic Monitoring

To ensure the availability of your applications during synthetic monitoring, consider the following best practices:

Load management: Avoid excessive load on your applications during synthetic monitoring. Configure the monitoring frequency and concurrency to simulate realistic user interactions without overloading the application infrastructure.
Monitoring infrastructure: Ensure that the infrastructure used for synthetic monitoring, including load generators and monitoring agents, is properly scaled and monitored to handle the required load without impacting the availability of the application.

7. Best Practices for Secure Synthetic Monitoring

To ensure security and privacy in synthetic monitoring, follow these best practices:

8. Data Encryption and Transmission

Encrypt all sensitive data transmitted during synthetic monitoring, including request parameters, authentication credentials, and response data.
Use secure communication protocols such as HTTPS for data transmission to protect data in transit.
Implement secure certificate management to prevent unauthorized access to communication channels.

9. Role-Based Access Control

Implement role-based access control (RBAC) to restrict access to synthetic monitoring tools and data based on user roles and responsibilities.
Regularly review and update access privileges to ensure that only authorized personnel have access to sensitive data.

10. Secure Test Script Development and Storage

Follow secure coding practices when developing test scripts to prevent vulnerabilities like injection attacks or unauthorized access.
Store test scripts in secure repositories with proper access controls to prevent unauthorized modifications or exposure.

11. Compliance with Data Protection Regulations

Ensure compliance with relevant data protection regulations such as GDPR, CCPA, or industry-specific standards.
Understand the legal requirements for storing and processing user data during synthetic monitoring and adhere to them.

12. Regular Security Audits and Monitoring

Conduct regular security audits to identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses in your synthetic monitoring infrastructure.
Implement robust monitoring and logging mechanisms to detect any unauthorized access or suspicious activities.

15. Conclusion

Synthetic monitoring is a powerful technique to enhance the performance and reliability of your applications. By leveraging New Relic’s synthetic monitoring capabilities, you can gain valuable insights into your application’s performance from a user’s perspective. Remember to regularly review and optimize your monitors to ensure continuous improvement.

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Q: How often should I run synthetic monitors in New Relic?
- A: The frequency of running synthetic monitors depends on your application’s needs. Consider factors such as user activity, criticality of user flows, and business requirements when determining the monitoring frequency.
Q: Can I customize the locations from which synthetic monitors are run in New Relic?
- A: Yes, New Relic allows you to configure the geographic locations from which synthetic monitors are executed. This flexibility enables you to assess the performance of your application from different regions.
Q: What is the difference between synthetic monitoring and real user monitoring (RUM)?
- A: Synthetic monitoring simulates user interactions to measure performance, while real user monitoring captures data from actual users. Synthetic monitoring provides a proactive approach, while RUM offers insights into real-world user experiences.
Q: Can I integrate synthetic monitoring with my existing monitoring tools in New Relic?
- A: Yes, New Relic provides integrations with various monitoring tools and platforms. You can leverage these integrations to combine synthetic monitoring data with other metrics and create a unified monitoring environment.
Q: How can I ensure the accuracy of synthetic monitoring results in New Relic?
- A: To ensure accurate results, regularly review and update your synthetic monitors to align with changes in your application. Monitor your application’s performance using a combination of synthetic monitoring and real user monitoring for comprehensive insights.

What is Synthetic monitoring in New Relic?

Synthetic monitors for proactive monitoring

Setting up synthetic monitors with New Relic lets you: Expand your browser monitoring with real, Selenium-powered scripted browsers, which test login procedures, searches, and other critical business transactions.

How does Synthetic monitoring work?

Synthetic or directed monitoring is a method to monitor your applications by simulating users – directing the path taken through the application. This directed monitoring provides information as to the uptime and performance of your critical business transactions, and most common paths in the application.

How do I disable Synthetic monitoring on New Relic?

Go to one.newrelic.com > Synthetic monitoring > Monitor downtime . Locate the monitor downtime to be deleted in the index. Select the ellipsis icon, and then Delete.

How does New Relic monitoring work?

New Relic is a Software as a Service offering that focuses on performance and availability monitoring. It uses a standardized Apdex (application performance index) score to set and rate application performance across the environment in a unified manner.

What is the tool used for synthetic transaction monitoring?

Ping is very widely used for website availability monitors and it is a synthetic monitoring technique. Pingdom is more than just Ping, however, because it runs a range of tests from a selection of remote sites to examine load times and transaction performance on Web pages.

What is the difference between synthetic monitoring and URL monitoring?

While real user monitoring tracks the level of satisfaction of your customers in real-time, synthetic monitoring tests the performance of your website in a controlled environment by running predefined scripts against your website to track service availability, benchmark performance against competitors, and response

Which type of synthetic monitoring will be used to monitor a work flow?

A company might use multiple API tests to monitor whether a specific workflow is working properly from end to end — this type of API monitoring is called a multistep API test.

Why do we need synthetic monitoring?

The main benefit of synthetic monitoring is that it makes it possible to validate system performance and identify potential issues before they impact the actual end-user experience.

Why is IT called synthetic monitoring?

This type of monitoring does not require actual traffic, thus the name synthetic, so it enables companies to test applications 24×7, or test new applications prior to a live customer-facing launch.

What is the difference between synthetic monitoring and passive monitoring?

RUM is a form of passive monitoring — it relies on services that constantly observe the system in the background, tracking responsiveness, functionality, and availability. Synthetic Monitoring is different. Instead of collecting real user data, it simulates it.

What is the difference between synthetic monitoring and performance monitoring?

Synthetic monitoring, also known as synthetic testing, is a performance monitoring practice that emulates users’ paths when engaging with an application. It uses scripts to generate simulated user behavior for different scenarios, geographic locations, device types, and other variables.

How do I enable browser monitoring in New Relic?

erify that browser monitoring has been enabled in your application’s Browser settings: Go to one.newrelic.com > Browser > (select an app) > Settings. Follow standard procedures to enable browser settings for each app. Flush your webserver cache.