You recently just got started with a leading edge-to-cloud network monitoring tool. The stars are finally starting to align in your favor, and honestly, you can’t wait to bid goodbye to those costly downtimes.
But you have hundreds (or even thousands) of devices to monitor, and they all need to be incorporated into the new system.
Yes, the new tool has some top-of-the-line capabilities. It can maintain, audit, and restore device configuration. It can even help you automatically discover all devices on your network. However, this is just the initial phase, and you're looking for advanced capabilities.
Like in most critical industries (think: healthcare, education, finance, etc.), your environment is rarely static. Devices are built or are under temporary maintenance. Some are added and removed. Network monitoring should, of course, address all these cases suitably and automatically for some of them, like detecting changes on a network device.
For other cases, like handling devices that no longer exist or those in maintenance, someone has to notify the monitoring system.
Now you are asking, “Is it possible to forward information about the device state to the monitoring solution automatically?” Yes, thanks to REST APIs!
REST APIs: The Key To Automated Network Monitoring
What is a REST API? You ask.
Picture a shoe shop, the type that only has one size per model in stock. You need to inquire about your size, so you ask the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper can go to the storage room to check whether they have the right color and size available. The customer is not allowed in the backroom.
So you need to approach the shopkeeper and make a request for the required color, size, and model. The shopkeeper will either bring the shoe that fits those specifications or tell you it’s not available.
A REST API works in a similar fashion–you ask for something, and you get the exact thing you’ve asked for, as long as it is available.
In the context of network monitoring, REST APIs are digital middlemen who handle requests and responses. They allow clients to use your monitoring tools and resources without allowing access to your backend, say, server database.
The REST API allows you to automatically connect clients and systems to your monitoring tool using simple HTTP calls (from our previous analogy, this would be your inquiry about shoe availability).
These inbound HTTP calls work by automatically listening for requests at your monitoring tool. Or by sending responses (about device state changes) to your monitoring tool from an independent client or system. Whatever way you look at it, REST APIs fulfill the role of middlemen perfectly.
Noticed the keyword here? That's right—automation. In today's digital-first, complex, and hybrid IT landscape, automated/programmable network monitoring is the foremost concern for IT leaders.
A REST API can act as the missing piece in your organization's monitoring puzzle.
Why Should You Automate Network Monitoring Via REST APIs? Here Are 5 Key Reasons
Now that you know how a REST API works, let's look at why you should use it to create a self-healing network infrastructure:
- Proactive Monitoring
The main benefit of using REST API for network monitoring is that you get to know when your network is down or whether there is a performance dip before your clients inform you.
Automation cuts remediation time to minutes without any human intervention.
Better yet, if you have REST API as part of device maintenance, then you can catch and patch issues on the fly.
Reduce Downtime
Network downtime is not just frustrating—it's costly (In fact, according to Statista, the average cost per hour of server downtime in the US ranges between $301K and $400).
REST API effectively bridges this gap, allowing critical organizations to restart failed devices and resources without manual intervention.
Less Repetitive, Manual Monitoring
Don't waste your employees' brain cells on the work they can do in their sleep (think: managing device monitoring, controlling network configuration, managing device credentials, etc.)
REST API monitoring allows you to free your team for strategic work like optimizing network performance—not fixing it.
Reduce Manual Error
With each passing day, networks continue to grow more complex. This leaves room for human error.
Monitoring resources that leverage REST APIs are accurate, seamless, and never take a vacation. After all, they work automatically.
Better User Satisfaction
Whether it's clients, customers, or just internal users, they deserve a top-notch experience possible with maximum uptime. And REST API monitoring can help you achieve just that!
What REST API Metrics Should You Monitor
As part of automated monitoring, any REST API dashboard worth its salt should include checks for connectivity (availability), correctness, and performance.
Availability- Check whether you can send a request to the REST API endpoint and get a response with expected device status information. This will affirm if that particular REST API is working as expected.
Correctness- Confirm if the REST API’s response data is 100% accurate.
Performance- Verify whether the REST API’s response time is within the desired threshold (ideally, it should be between 0.1 and 1 second). If, say, you have limits for specific timings like HTTP calls, you can confirm if these are below the desired threshold.
Now that you know what REST API criterion to look out for, there’s only one thing left to do: find a network monitoring tool that collects and exposes these metrics automatically.
And there could be no better than: WhatsUp Gold RESTful API.
WhatsUp Gold RESTful API: Redefining The Essence Of Automatic Network Monitoring
Network errors/issues/blips happen. Fix them fast using WhatUp Gold REST API— a robust, do-it-all platform that lets you leverage the combined power of automation and network monitoring.
Our platform's inbound REST API functionality has now been extended to incorporate call-out REST APIs. The all-new outbound REST API calls allow you to optimize REST to seamlessly provide information to WhatsUp Gold from other 3rd-party solutions, say, Office 365 or Salesforce. This, right here, is next-level automation!
At its core, WhatsUp Gold's inbound REST API is outstandingly multi-purpose and intuitively powerful. You can automatically put resources (devices, to be specific) into maintenance state before making alterations, obtain current status info for use by a different system, remove or add devices, or more—all at the touch of a button!
And you don't have to sweat about learning the REST API. The dedicated Swagger Interface exposes the entire API in a straightforward, digestible fashion, allowing you to experiment with various APIs until you grasp the nuances of each.
Does WhatsUp Gold REST API sound like a tool you might want to add to your monitoring arsenal? Try it, buy it, or if you need further clarifications, contact the team at Progress today!