Uptime Uptime is a measurement of how often your systems are up and running. The uptime percentage is calculated by taking the number of minutes your system was down in a specific time frame and dividing it by the total number of minutes your system was being monitored during that time frame. The downtime percentage is then subtracted from 100% to get the uptime percentage. Generally, you want your uptime to be as close to 100% as possible. Reliability and customer satisfaction suffer when systems are down, so monitoring this metric closely and taking steps to minimize downtime is essential. PRTG offers the SNMP System Uptime sensor to get a detailed view of your system’s uptime over a given period. SNMP System Uptime sensor (source) 2. System performance System performance is a measurement of how well your systems are functioning. This metric can be determined using various indicators such as response time, throughput, and CPU utilization. Monitoring system performance allows you to identify bottlenecks and slowdowns before they cause significant problems. Additionally, paying attention to system performance can help you fine-tune your systems for optimal efficiency. PRTG provides the Core Health sensor to get a comprehensive view of your server’s core health metrics. Core Health sensor (source) 3. Security Breaches With all the recent data breaches in the news, it’s no surprise that security is the top priority for many organizations. When monitoring your IT resources, pay close attention to any security breaches. By monitoring them, you can learn from past incidents and take steps to prevent them from happening again. You can leverage the WMI Security Center sensor and the SSL Security Check sensor to view your servers’ and websites’ security aspects. WMI Security Center sensor (source) SSL Security Check sensor (source) 4. Help desk tickets The help desk is usually the first contact point for users that have problems with their systems or applications. As such, it’s a good indicator of overall system health. Pay attention to the number of help desk tickets that are being generated and the time it takes to resolve them. In either case, it’s crucial to investigate further and take corrective action. PRTG comes with a built-in ticket system to help you manage customer requests and feedback quickly. Tickets in PRTG (source) 5. Maintenance Costs Maintaining your IT infrastructure can be costly, so keeping an eye on maintenance costs is essential. If you see an increase in maintenance costs, try to determine what is causing it and take steps to bring those costs back down again. You can use cost sensors for AWS and Azure to get a cost analysis of your cloud resources. AWS Cost sensor (source) By monitoring these five key metrics, you can get a good overview of your IT infrastructure and identify areas that need improvement. Doing so will help ensure that your systems are running efficiently while also helping to prevent any major problems from arising.