Real user monitoring
Encyclopedia
Real user monitoring is a passive web monitoring technology that records all user interaction with a website
. Monitoring actual user interaction with a website is important to website operators to determine if users are being served quickly, error free and if not which part of a business process is failing. Software as a Service
(SaaS) and Application Service Provider
s (ASP) use RUM to monitor and manage service quality delivered to their clients. Real user monitoring data is used to determine the actual service-level quality delivered to end-users and to detect errors or slowdowns on web sites. The data may also be used to determine if changes that are promulgated to sites has the desired effect or causes errors.
Organizations also use RUM to test website changes prior to deployment by monitoring for errors or slowdowns in the pre-deployment phase, they may also use it to test changes to production websites, or to anticipate behavioural changes in a website. For example a website may add an area where users would be likely to congregate before moving forward in a group (test takers logging into a website over twenty minutes and then simultaneously beginning a test for example), this is called rendezvous in test environments. Changes to websites such as these can be tested with RUM.
Real user monitoring is typically "passive monitoring
," i.e. the RUM device collects web traffic without having any effect on the operation of the site. In some limited cases it also uses Javascript injected into a page to provide feedback from the browser.
Passive monitoring
can be very helpful in troubleshooting performance problems once they have occurred. Passive monitoring
differs from synthetic monitoring
with automated web browsers
in that it relies on actual inbound and outbound web traffic to take measurements.
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
. Monitoring actual user interaction with a website is important to website operators to determine if users are being served quickly, error free and if not which part of a business process is failing. Software as a Service
Software as a Service
Software as a service , sometimes referred to as "on-demand software," is a software delivery model in which software and its associated data are hosted centrally and are typically accessed by users using a thin client, normally using a web browser over the Internet.SaaS has become a common...
(SaaS) and Application Service Provider
Application service provider
An application service provider is a business that provides computer-based services to customers over a network. Software offered using an ASP model is also sometimes called On-demand software or software as a service ....
s (ASP) use RUM to monitor and manage service quality delivered to their clients. Real user monitoring data is used to determine the actual service-level quality delivered to end-users and to detect errors or slowdowns on web sites. The data may also be used to determine if changes that are promulgated to sites has the desired effect or causes errors.
Organizations also use RUM to test website changes prior to deployment by monitoring for errors or slowdowns in the pre-deployment phase, they may also use it to test changes to production websites, or to anticipate behavioural changes in a website. For example a website may add an area where users would be likely to congregate before moving forward in a group (test takers logging into a website over twenty minutes and then simultaneously beginning a test for example), this is called rendezvous in test environments. Changes to websites such as these can be tested with RUM.
Real user monitoring is typically "passive monitoring
Passive monitoring
Passive monitoring is a technique used to capture traffic from a network by generating a copy of that traffic, often from a span port or mirror port or via a network tap...
," i.e. the RUM device collects web traffic without having any effect on the operation of the site. In some limited cases it also uses Javascript injected into a page to provide feedback from the browser.
Passive monitoring
Passive monitoring
Passive monitoring is a technique used to capture traffic from a network by generating a copy of that traffic, often from a span port or mirror port or via a network tap...
can be very helpful in troubleshooting performance problems once they have occurred. Passive monitoring
Passive monitoring
Passive monitoring is a technique used to capture traffic from a network by generating a copy of that traffic, often from a span port or mirror port or via a network tap...
differs from synthetic monitoring
Synthetic monitoring
Synthetic monitoring is website monitoring that is done using a web browser emulation or scripted real web browsers. Behavioral scripts are created to simulate an action or path that a customer or end-user would take on a site...
with automated web browsers
IMacros
iMacros is an extension for the Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and Internet Explorer web browsers which adds record and replay functionality similar to that found in web testing and form filler software. The macros can be combined and controlled via JavaScript. Demo macros and JavaScript code...
in that it relies on actual inbound and outbound web traffic to take measurements.