Configuration

When you log into Web Site Perspective 6.0, you're presented with a configurable start page from which you can change the layout and add or delete sections that display information. Among the data available are saved graphs, notes and recent performance history. This page is designed as a high-level "CIO" page.

But I'm not a CIO (and you may not be either), so I dug in to find the goods. A tabbed layout menu offers choices to configure and view alarms and performance history, perform diagnostic tests and set preferences and options. Another tab offers a test page, which can be used with the forthcoming Test Perspective Recorder. This self-service solution will let you run transaction-integrity, diagnostic and load tests on demand, and receive immediate feedback on modifications you make to your Web site or any other aspect of your network. This option was not available in the beta version but will be available as a subscription service with the full release.

One of the most useful features in this version is its ability to display both performance and availability on a single page (see screen, below). This lets you make decisions based on those stats at a single glance. Other Web site performance-management solutions show this information on separate graphs on different pages. In addition, an options setting lets you view the configured alarm levels within the performance graphs.

To make root-cause analysis a simple task, Web Site Perspective displays performance and availability in conjunction with configured thresholds. Click here to enlarge

The graphs are highly configurable. You can plot performance based on time, city or Keynote agents, or by backbone. Time and date ranges also are configurable. And you can use the new Scatter Plot feature, which graphs individual measurements over an eight-hour period (maximum). This type of graph lets you view individual data points and associated measurements. When you move your mouse over a single data point, the reporting agent as well as a detailed listing of performance data gathered by that agent are displayed.

Errors and Alarms

Another excellent option in this release lets you choose whether to count content errors as errors or to ignore them when generating graphs. By viewing the performance and availability history of our Web site over a few weeks, I was able to determine a threshold for performance and configure alarms based on those measurements.

Alarms are generated every five minutes by default (in previous versions, the default was every 15 minutes) and can be set to notify you if performance exceeds a threshold or availability drops below one. In addition, you can configure alarms to ignore maintenance windows so you won't be overwhelmed with alarm e-mail during a scheduled downtime.

The product's notification features, though, are less robust than those offered by the competition. Web Site Perspective offers only two thresholds -- warning and critical. Although alarms can be e-mailed to different addresses for each of the thresholds, those are your only options. There is no escalation process and there are no pager or SMS notifications. Keynote says it expects to integrate a more robust notification system in a coming release.

E-mail alarms include a link to a snapshot of the alarm data. Click on the link -- no login required -- and you're immediately taken to a page displaying a scatter plot of the performance along with a detailed listing of performance as measured by each agent.

After configuring both the critical and warning thresholds, I returned to the measurement page and generated a performance/ availability graph based on the previous week's data.

Vendor Information Keynote Web Site Perspective 6.0; US10: $395 per URL per month, US25: $695 per URL per month, Global35: $995 per URL per month, Global50: $1,895 per URL per month. Available: March 19. Keynote Systems, (800) KEYNOTE, (650) 403-2400; fax (650) 403-5500. www.keynote.com

In addition to sharing alarm data, you can give others access to the performance/availability graphs you generate. If you'd like to share them with a co-worker, you can post the generated graph. That graph can then be accessed via a URL (which you're told when you post the graph) for up to a week, without the need for viewer authentication. And you can save graphs for future reference -- to show them to your ISP, for example, as proof of noncompliance with SLAs (service-level agreements).

A content error graph -- which lets you share information about these annoying errors with your Web development team -- can be generated too. This graph shows 404 (not found) errors as well as page time-out errors, which indicate a performance issue on the server or backbone. You can view the details of each error as well as sort the list of errors by IP address, time, agent or URL for a better view of what's going on with your Web site.

Details, Details

The granularity of measurement data offered by Web Site Perspective is excellent. I created a measurement graph displaying the performance/availability of each component contained on the page Keynote was monitoring. The result was a graph and set of tables showcasing individual measurements -- DNS lookup time, redirection time, connection time, first byte download, total content download and base page download.

The diagnostic capabilities of Web Site Perspective are excellent. Unlike most services, Keynote's solution lets you ping, traceroute, and perform a DNS lookup or instant measurement on any URL -- not just those you're actively monitoring. This is a great tool for spot-checking problems or issues with your site or around the Internet.

Keynote's offerings have always been on the high end of the pricing spectrum, and prices depend on the number of locations monitoring. But the product's ease of use, detailed information and enhancements make it worth the expense.