Healthcheckers

Healthcheckers are a common practice in software development and system administration, referring to automated processes that periodically verify the operational status of a service or application. These checks are designed to detect failures or degraded performance early, allowing for prompt intervention and minimizing downtime. A healthcheck typically involves sending a request to a specific endpoint or executing a predefined script within the target system. The response is then analyzed to determine if the system is functioning as expected.

Common metrics checked include service availability, response times, resource utilization (such as CPU and memory), and the status of critical internal components or dependencies. If a healthcheck fails, it can trigger various automated actions, such as restarting the service, alerting administrators, or diverting traffic to a healthy instance. This proactive monitoring is crucial for maintaining the reliability and availability of modern distributed systems and web applications. The implementation and complexity of healthchecks can vary significantly depending on the application's architecture and the criticality of its uptime.