Why Should You Start API Monitoring Today?

‍One of the things an API does is to translate data between databases. If it fails, this could potentially lead to a large amount of data loss, and an inconsistent service all across the platforms - why risk it, when you can start API monitoring today?

APIs have become the backbone of many digital services. They offer constant communication to developers and customers by providing access to data that’s sitting at the service provider’s side. They are especially helpful in creating apps, websites, and other digital content as they allow these products to store less information while keeping full functionality throough a fairly simple communication integration. That is the reason for constant, and professional, API monitoring, but allow us to explain. 

What is an API?

The API, or application programming interface, is an essential part of the application and transfers data between different databases. It can be connected to many different databases such as MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server & more. A central use for APIs is that they keep content safe and secure by only exposing data to the developers and consumers who need it. The most commonly used example of an API is Facebook’s Graph API. This is a method by which developers can gain access to raw, unfettered data from the platform without relying on any third-party integrations or client software. However, this is where their power gets a little worrying because it takes a simple error to expose valuable data, or simply crash in a heart-beat. 

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What can happen if an API crashes?

 If an API crashes, it can lead to huge amounts of data loss, and this crash can be caused by a simple and small communication error. There can also be a major connectivity issue preventing the API from functioning properly. One of the most common reasons why APIs crash is because of a simple and small communication error, which happens when the API sends all of its updates at once. When this happens, it causes an overload on the server and crashes. Logs often display the cause of your API crashes, but you cannot expect to see each and every log of your API uses, can you?

These sorts of logs and errors are exactly the common flaws found through API monitoring, but what exactly does that mean, and how does that work?

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API monitoring - a precaution that you should take

API monitoring is a way of checking on the status of an API, and making sure that it is running smoothly. API monitoring can be very helpful in catching errors even before they happen. It can also be used to monitor the performance of an API and to see how it might be improved. API monitoring can detect errors and performance using a number of different techniques. These include: - Monitoring the API endpoint by periodically polling it for status information and errors; - Establishing a connection between the client application and an API endpoint to monitor traffic; - Looking at historical data that can be stored in an event log or analytics engine to track performance trends.

These are simply examples of an API monitoring technique. The "monitoring" function will periodically check for the status of the endpoint and for errors, storing any that it finds in an event log. It is assumed that this function should be called from a scheduled task or from other code running continuously.

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Professional API monitoring - Cloudbeat

Cloudbeat provides an API monitoring service that guarantees constant and professional cloud testing services. The service helps developers and product teams to release a superior quality product in the shortest time. It also provides DevOps teams with the ability to monitor their APIs and applications without wasting unnecessary assets on the process. Cloudbeat has a lot of features that make it stand out from other API monitoring services. It has a free plan, which is great for startups who are still in their early stages of development and don't need too many test runs to find their weak-points. The innovative system though grows with businesses, and provides an enterprise On-Demand plan that completely covers each and every of your needs.

Both plans provide access to Cloudbeat’s high-quality testings, and is perfect for companies who want to monitor their APIs and the applications they have, because the system is able to run multiple concurrent tests on a single dedicated web server, API or product. If you are a startup or growing business that needs constant monitoring and professional cloud testing services, then Cloudbeat is exactly what you need.

It doesn’t take much to crash an API, as we mentioned before, but luckily it doesn’t take much to prevent it also. Let us help you not only find and fix your bugs, but also predicting and preventing them from being created in the first place.

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