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Downtimes and availability

A downtime is a period in which UCP (Uptime Check) sends no alerts about a host or a check: for example a maintenance you know about, an update of the firewall, or the night window in which your provider runs its backups and the server slows down.

What happens during a downtime

  • The checks keep running and their states change.
  • No alert goes out, for any user.
  • The time in downtime does not count in the availability.
  • A problem still open at the end of the downtime is reported at the first run after it.

The page of a host in downtime says so: "In downtime until …: no notice leaves".

Planning a downtime

Downtimes are planned from the page of each host, in the Downtimes section:

Field What to choose
On The whole host, or a single check
Repeat Once or Every week
From and To For a one-off downtime, the start and the end
Day, At and For (minutes) For a weekly downtime, the day, the start time and the length
Note Optional: why, such as "maintenance of the provider"

Then Plan downtime. The times are in your time zone.

Remove takes a downtime away: the alerts start again at the next run. A one-off downtime that is over disappears by itself.

Examples

  • Firewall update on Saturday evening: The whole host, Once, from 22:00 to 23:30.
  • Night backups of the provider: an HTTP/HTTPS check that slows down every night, Every week for each day concerned, at 02:00 for 60 minutes.

All the downtimes

Modules › Downtimes lists the downtimes of all your hosts: first those Under way, then the Next ones, with the host, on what, when and who planned them (Planned by). They are planned and removed from the page of each host.

Availability

Availability is the share of time in which a host was Up, or a check OK. It shows on the page of the host (from the host check) and on the page of each check:

  • over 24 hours, 7 days, 30 days and 12 months;
  • The last 90 days, a bar with one segment per day: green from 99.9 %, yellow from 99 %, red below, grey without data. Point at a day to read its value and the minutes in downtime;
  • the Response time, last 7 days, hour by hour, with the Mean and the Highest value.

Downtimes and the wait for the first result do not count. Availability is updated every hour.

It is the number to show to whoever asks how available a service has been, for example to check what a supplier promises you.