Web Request Events by URL monitors web requests grouped by URL to help identify application errors and slow responses affecting specific endpoints. By tracking request status and response duration, this alert helps detect issues that may affect website availability, API performance, or the user experience.
A specific URL may experience repeated errors or unusually long response times even when the rest of the website continues to operate normally.
Symptoms:
Requests to a specific URL are returning error statuses or taking longer than expected to complete. Users may experience slow page loading, failed operations, or difficulties accessing specific application features.
Impact: Medium
Errors and slow responses affecting a specific URL can disrupt important business operations and degrade the user experience. If the affected URL supports a critical function, such as an ERP operation, an API endpoint, or an order-processing workflow, the impact may be significant even when other parts of the application remain available.
Expected behavior:
Request volume, response duration, and HTTP status codes vary according to user activity, time of day, application workload, and the specific purpose of each URL.
Some URLs may normally receive more traffic or take longer to respond because they perform complex operations or retrieve large amounts of data. Expected behavior should therefore be evaluated based on the URL’s normal activity patterns and business importance.
Investigate recurring HTTP errors, unexpected increases in response time, or sudden changes in request behavior. Pay particular attention to URLs supporting critical application functions, even when the overall website appears to be operating normally.
Possible causes of Web Events by URL alerts
- Application errors: Bugs or exceptions in the application may cause HTTP 5xx errors or failed requests.
- Slow database queries: Queries taking too long to execute can delay responses from application endpoints.
- Increased workload: A sudden increase in requests may overload application resources and increase response times.
- External dependencies: Slow or unavailable third-party services, APIs, or other connected systems may delay requests or cause failures.
- Configuration or deployment changes: Recent application updates, IIS configuration changes, or routing issues may cause specific URLs to return errors or respond more slowly.
- Resource constraints: High CPU or memory utilization on the web server may affect request processing and response times.
Application errors caused by bugs or exceptions in the application. Priority: Medium
Application errors may cause web requests to fail, resulting in HTTP 5xx status codes or other unexpected responses. These errors can occur following code changes, unhandled exceptions, invalid input, or failures in application logic. Repeated errors may prevent users from completing specific operations.
Problem identification:
Identify the URLs returning errors and determine whether the failures are recurring or associated with specific application operations.
- Identify the affected URLs and check the HTTP status codes returned by the requests.
- Review IIS logs and application logs for exceptions, error messages, and recurring failures associated with the affected URLs.
- Check whether the errors started after a recent application deployment or configuration change. Consult the application team to identify and resolve the underlying issue.
Recommended action :
Fix the application errors causing the affected URLs to fail. Correct unhandled exceptions, invalid input handling, or application logic issues, and verify that the affected requests return the expected HTTP status codes. If the errors began after a recent deployment, consider rolling back the change until a fix is available.
2- Slow database queries delaying web request processing. Priority: High
Web applications frequently depend on database queries to retrieve or update information. When queries take too long to execute, the associated web requests may also take longer to complete. This can cause slow page loading, delayed API responses, and timeouts that affect application functionality.
Problem identification:
Determine whether slow responses from specific URLs coincide with long-running database queries or increased database resource consumption.
- Identify URLs with unusually long response times and determine which application functions they support.
- Check database performance during the affected periods, looking for long-running queries, blocking, high CPU utilization, or excessive disk I/O.
- Consult the DBA and application teams to correlate slow web requests with database activity and optimize the relevant queries or database operations.
Recommended action :
Identify and optimize the database queries responsible for delaying web requests. Review execution plans, indexing, blocking, and resource consumption as needed. Work with the DBA and application teams to verify that the changes improve response times without affecting application functionality.
3- Excessive request volume overloading application resources. Priority: High
A sudden increase in requests to a specific URL may overload the web server or application. This can occur during peak business hours, promotional campaigns, automated processes, or unexpected traffic spikes. When the application cannot process requests quickly enough, response times increase and requests may fail.
Problem identification:
Look for an increase in request volume to the affected URLs alongside longer response times or a rise in HTTP errors.
- Review the request volume and response times for the affected URLs. Compare the current activity with normal traffic patterns.
- Monitor server CPU and memory utilization, application pool activity, and other resource indicators during periods of increased traffic.
- Determine whether the workload is expected or abnormal. If necessary, consult the application and infrastructure teams about optimizing resource usage, distributing the workload, or adjusting capacity.
Recommended action :
Optimize the application code – avoid starting a transaction in your application that is having long conversations with the SQL Server or risks leaving one open too long. If doing operations on large numbers of rows, consider batching them up into more manageable chunks and specifying the log time to recover.
Improve the query execution plan, increase the allocated max memory, or consider upgrading your hardware to increase the amount of RAM available to the server.
