Server Down? Here are 3 Tools that Can Help You Fix the Issue

This annoying nightmare is always around the corner: that website you are so desperately trying to reach is down, and with that, your stress level is up.

Imagine that you were trying to place an online order that you carefully worked on for the last two hours, or that you were just about to submit an application to a great job with a very tight deadline. You click on the button, and you get the most obnoxious sentence you could ever read: “Page failed to load.”

*Insert any profanity here*

To make things even more annoying, you never seem to know if the problem is with the website or with your network, your internet connection, or your machine. What is there to do – besides losing it for a second?

You can never predict when this can happen and how it can affect your work and plans – though it most likely happens at the worst possible moment. But if there is one thing you do know, it’s that you wish you could do something about it. The great news is that there is something you can do something to fix this issue! You’re probably wondering: how could that be done?

Here are our three tips on how to fix this with the help of some wonderful, free network troubleshooting tools. These tools can help you figure what is happening and what to do about it.

1. Is It Down Right Now?

You can never forget the name of this great network troubleshooting tool, since it is exactly the question that probably runs through your mind while seeing that page unavailable. Isitdownrightnow.com is a great resource because it allows you to see whether the page you are trying to reach is experiencing some issues at that moment. Through this page, you can even check a list of popular websites and their current status of responsiveness.

Anyone can use this tool, since it is extremely simple and accessible. The only thing you are supposed to do is enter the website’s URL onto their page, and they will let you know if it is currently down. If it is, it will let you know if it is down for everybody or just for you. You are also offered the possibility to share your current experience with all the other users, as well as gaining more insights into what is happening and what you can do to fix it.

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2. A Network Monitoring Software

Making sure that every important website works properly can be a tedious job, and IT services professionals know that very well. Servers can go down because of many things, which only makes it more difficult to keep pace. Plus, it can happen when least expected – you wouldn’t want to have your clients show up annoyed and stressed out, without you even knowing that the server went down.

To avoid this and to improve workflow and efficiency, you can implement network monitoring software. It helps you get real-time insights into what is going on, both for internal networks and for external websites. If any problem arises, you will be alerted immediately, and you will be able to tackle the issue as fast as you can. Also, you can easily contact and update whoever is needed to get the situation addressed properly. The software also provides information on whether a server or device is online, but it most definitely outpaces Ping since it can measure server CPU, disk, memory usage, performance, and network switch bandwidth utilization.

3. Ping: Are You Still Alive in There?

If isitdownrightnow.com has not offered enough help, then Ping might just be the right tool for you. This fun, super smart software helps you gauge the reach ability of a website or a networked device. You can find out in no time how long it can take to get a response from a web page. Since both Windows and Linux already come with this application, you can use it to check the availability of devices on your local network – something that “Is it down right now” cannot do, even though it still uses the same concept as Ping.

It’s very easy to use, and obviously at the reach of your fingertips. All you need to do is to open a command window and type “ping”, followed by the computer name, IP address or the website URL of the page you are trying to reach.

No human is perfect and, as it turns out, no machine is either. Servers and networks will go down. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t take things into your own hands and address the problem like a pro.