What is a website availability test?
A website availability test, also known as a website uptime test, is a way to check if a website or web application is available and working properly.
This test sends requests to the website from different places and checks to see if the site responds without errors within a certain amount of time.
The results of a website availability test can help website owners and administrators find and fix any problems that may be causing downtime or slow performance.
What results will I receive from a website availability test?
The results of a website availability test typically include information about whether the website or web application is accessible and functioning properly. This information can include:
- Response time: How long it took for the website to respond to a request.
- Response codes: Records the HTTP response codes the web server returned, which can be used to pinpoint specific errors and problems.
- Uptime/downtime: Indicates how long the website was up and running during the testing period as well as how long it was unavailable.
- Other metrics: Depending on the tool used for the test, other metrics like page load time, time to first byte, and number of requests may also be reported.
What is response time?
Response time is the amount of time it takes for a web server to answer a client’s request during a website availability test.
Response time is measured from when the request is sent to when the server sends a response back to the client.
A quick response time is good because it shows that the website or web app is responsive and working well. But if the response time is slow, it could mean there are problems with the website, like slow loading times or a server that is too busy.
What is a response code in a website availability test?
A response code in a website availability test is a three-digit number that a web server returns in response to a client request.
Information regarding the status of the request and whether it was successful or not is provided by the response code.
What are the most common response codes?
- 200 OK: The web server is returning the required data after a successful request.
- 301 Moved Permanently: The requested URL has been relocated permanently to a different location.
- 404 Not Found: The server was unable to locate the specified URL.
- 500 Internal Server Error: While attempting to complete the request, the web server ran into a problem.
What other response codes are there?
- 302 Found: The requested URL has been temporarily moved to a different location.
- 401 Unauthorized: The client is not authorized to access the requested URL.
- 403 Forbidden: The server refuses to provide the requested URL.
503 Service Unavailable: The server is currently unavailable, usually due to maintenance or overload.