Heartbeats
Heartbeats are your solution for monitoring internal or scheduled services that cannot be checked externally (like cron jobs or private scripts). They ensure your critical background processes are running on time by expecting a regular signal from your service.
What is Heartbeat Monitoring?
Heartbeat monitoring is an inverted monitoring technique. Instead of an external service constantly checking (or "polling") your website or server, the service itself sends a regular signal—the "heartbeat"—to the monitoring platform. If the platform fails to receive this expected signal within a set time, it assumes the service has failed or stalled, triggering an immediate alert.
This method is essential for monitoring:
- Scheduled tasks (e.g., nightly backups, daily data synchronization scripts).
- Internal services or devices running behind a firewall.
Heartbeats in Pulsetic: At-a-Glance Monitoring
In Pulsetic, the Heartbeats feature provides a comprehensive list view of all your monitored scheduled tasks, allowing you to assess their current status and performance instantly.
The main Heartbeats Page allows you to see the following key information for each monitor:
- Heartbeat Name: The descriptive name you assigned to the task.
- Interval: The expected time between successful heartbeat requests (e.g., every 30 seconds).
- Grace Period: The extra time window allowed after the expected interval before the heartbeat is officially marked as missed.
- Uptime: The percentage calculated as the average uptime for the latest 90 days.
- Latest Check: The timestamp of the most recent successful heartbeat received.
Understanding Heartbeat Status
The Status column is critical for rapid diagnosis:
- Waiting: The Heartbeat monitor has been set up, but Pulsetic has not yet received the first signal (Request URL ping) from your service or script. The monitoring is active, but the system cannot confirm the service's status until the initial check is complete.
- Online: The heartbeat is being received regularly within the set Interval plus the Grace Period. The monitored service is functioning as expected.
- Offline: Pulsetic has not received the expected signal, meaning the task has likely failed, stalled, or stopped executing. This triggers an alert.
- Paused: The monitoring has been temporarily disabled by a user. No checks or alerts will be triggered.
Managing the Heartbeats List
The page includes dedicated tools to manage the list view:
- Filtering: Filter the view by status (Everything, Online, Offline, Paused, Custom).
- Sorting: Sort the view by Newest First, Oldest First, Name, or Uptime.
- Searching: Search by Heartbeat Name or associated Tags.
Use these links to learn how to set up, analyze, and manage your scheduled task monitors effectively.