Configuring Alarm Rules for Synthetic Monitoring

Configuring Alarm Rules for Synthetic Monitoring

Synthetic Monitoring

Configuring Alarm Rules for Synthetic Monitoring

Set up threshold-based alarms across host availability, port availability, SSL/TLS certificates, and website monitors so Cloudmon notifies your team or triggers automated actions the moment a check fails or a metric breaches its defined limit.

Overview

Each Synthetic monitor type has its own set of available metrics tied directly to what that monitor measures. Host Availability alarms fire on reachability, latency, jitter, and packet loss. Port Availability alarms fire on TCP connection success, response time, and error rate. SSL/TLS alarms fire on certificate expiry, grade, and validity. Website alarms fire on HTTP status codes, response time, availability, and content checks. Alarm rules are configured directly on each individual monitor in its Settings.

How to Configure an Alarm

Each alarm is built around a simple IF/THEN model, where you select a metric, set a threshold, and define what happens when it is breached. Learn more.

Common Use Cases

Below are recommended alarm configurations across all four Synthetic monitor types:

Use CaseMonitor TypeMetricSuggested ThresholdWhy
Host unreachableHost AvailabilityAvailabilityBelow 100% for 1 intervalA single missed ICMP or TCP check is a strong signal that the host has gone offline, a firewall rule has changed, or the network path has been disrupted.
High latency to a branch or remote hostHost AvailabilityResponse TimeAbove baseline for 3 intervalsSustained high latency to a branch office router indicates WAN congestion or a link degradation that will impact application performance for users at that site.
Packet loss on a critical pathHost AvailabilityPacket LossAbove 5% for 2 intervalsPacket loss causes retransmissions, session drops, and degraded VoIP or video quality before the link fully fails and availability drops to zero.
Service port down or not respondingPort AvailabilityAvailabilityBelow 100% for 1 intervalA closed or unresponsive port means a service has crashed or the firewall has blocked it. The host may still be pingable, making this invisible without dedicated port monitoring.
Slow TCP connection to an application servicePort AvailabilityResponse TimeAbove 2000ms for 3 intervalsA high TCP handshake time on a database port or API endpoint indicates server-side connection queue pressure that will cause application timeouts before users report errors.
Certificate expiring soonSSL/TLSValidity Days RemainingBelow 30 days for 1 intervalAn expired certificate causes immediate browser errors and breaks HTTPS connections for all users. A 30-day warning gives teams enough time to renew even if the first attempt fails.
Certificate security grade degradedSSL/TLSCertificate GradeBelow A for 1 intervalA grade below A indicates weak ciphers, missing forward secrecy, or deprecated protocol support that creates a security risk and may fail compliance requirements.
Website down or returning an errorWebsiteAvailabilityBelow 100% for 1 intervalA single availability failure means the URL returned a non-success status code or timed out. For a public-facing website, this means users are seeing errors right now.
Website response time degradingWebsiteResponse TimeAbove 3000ms for 2 intervalsA response time above 3 seconds causes significant user abandonment on web applications and e-commerce sites. Catching sustained slowdowns early allows investigation before users report problems.
Website returning unexpected status codeWebsiteStatus CodeNot equal to 200 for 1 intervalA 4xx or 5xx response from a monitored URL indicates an application error, misconfiguration, or deployment issue that may not show as a full outage but is actively serving errors to users.

Viewing and Managing Triggers

Once saved, all triggers for a Synthetic monitor are listed in the Triggers table under the Alarm Rule section in that monitor's Settings. Each row shows the trigger title, alarm severity, notification configuration, and linked services. Triggers can be edited or deleted at any time using the action icons on the right.

All active alarms for a Synthetic monitor are visible under the Alarms tab within the monitor detail page, and in the global Alarms view under the Alarms menu in the navigation bar.

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