# TCP Monitor Configuration Guide on the Elven Platform The **TCP Monitor** from the **Elven Platform** allows you to monitor **services** using **checks based on the TCP protocol**. This feature helps configure **continuous checks**, set **alerts**, and define **thresholds** for **automatic incident creation**, ensuring you are quickly informed of any **irregularities** in **connectivity** or **service performance**. The **TCP protocol** (**Transmission Control Protocol**) is widely used for **reliable communication** between systems, enabling **data transmission** across networks. With **TCP monitoring**, you can verify the **availability** and **quality** of **TCP connections**, ensuring the **integrity** of services that rely on this protocol. {% embed url="" %} ## **Accessing TCP Monitoring** * Navigate to the **main menu** and click on **Services Hub**. * In **Internet Services**, select the **TCP** item. ## **Monitoring Configuration** **Monitoring the availability** of your **services** has never been easier. Start by giving a clear name to the resource you want to track (**Resource Name**) to make identification easier. Then, adjust the **interval between checks** (**Interval**) and the **response timeout** (**Timeout**). Select where the **monitoring agent** is located (**Checkpoint Cloud**) by choosing the appropriate **Environment**. If it doesn’t exist, you can create one using **+ Checkpoint**. After this configuration, under **Form Type**, you can choose between **Host and Port** or **Healthcheck URL**. In **Host and Port**, you can enter the **host** and **port** of the resource to be monitored. In **Healthcheck URL**, you can simply enter the **URL** of the resource to be monitored. Remember that the **Host** and **Healthcheck URL** fields only accept **URLs**; if you need to use an **IP address**, it must be stored in a **Secret** to ensure the **security** and **organization** of the information. ## **Automatic Incident Opening** You can configure **automatic incident opening** to ensure a quick response to critical issues. To begin, define the **incident severity**, allowing you to prioritize according to urgency. Next, adjust the **Check Interval**, specifying the check frequency in seconds to continuously monitor the resource. This helps ensure you're always one step ahead, detecting problems as soon as they arise. Additionally, select the **team to be notified** whenever an incident occurs and enable the **"Enable to set up automatic incidents opening"** option to ensure the configuration is active. With this setup, the platform automates **incident management**, making the response process faster and more efficient, without the need for manual intervention. This ensures your team is always ready to resolve any issue with speed and precision. ## **Maintenance Window** We also have the **Maintenance Window**, an essential feature for managing **planned maintenance periods** in your application. During this time, **checks are temporarily paused**, preventing **monitoring**, **alerts**, and **notifications** from being triggered while you perform updates or adjustments. This allows maintenance to proceed smoothly, without generating unnecessary notifications or false alarms, ensuring your operations continue in an orderly manner without unexpected interruptions in **performance reports**. For example, imagine you need to update the **payment system** of an **e-commerce platform**, making backend adjustments such as installing new **security certificates**. To do this, you can configure the **Maintenance Window** for a specific time, such as **12/13/2024, from 2:00 PM to 2:30 PM**. During this period, the **Elven Platform** suspends checks, preventing the monitoring system from logging temporary failures or triggering false alerts. This way, you can make the necessary changes calmly, knowing that the **monitoring system** will not be affected during maintenance. This approach ensures the update is carried out in an organized manner, without affecting the **user experience** or generating unwanted **notifications**. ## **Application Opening Hours** You can also rely on the **Application Opening Hours** feature, which allows you to configure your application's **operating hours**. This functionality is essential for customizing **monitoring** based on the periods when your application is actually active, avoiding **alerts** and **notifications** outside of business hours. This way, monitoring becomes more aligned with your business’s real needs, ensuring more accurate **reports** and efficient **management**. For example, imagine your application only runs from **Monday to Friday**, from **9:00 AM to 6:00 PM**. You can configure **Application Opening Hours** to reflect this schedule by specifying the **working days and hours**. With this setup, the **Elven Platform** automatically disables **checks** outside of these hours, preventing the logging of **failures** that don’t affect end users and avoiding unnecessary **alerts**. This approach optimizes **performance analysis**, focusing only on relevant periods and providing a clearer view of your application’s **health** during its **operating hours**. ## **Glossary of Technical Terms** **TCP (Transmission Control Protocol)**: A **transport layer protocol** that ensures **reliable**, **ordered**, and **lossless communication** between devices. It is used in applications such as **web browsing**, **file transfers**, and **email**. **Interval**: The **time interval** between automatic checks performed during **monitoring**. **Timeout**: The **maximum time** allowed for the monitoring system to receive a response from the monitored resource before registering a **failure**. **Checkpoint Cloud**: The **location** where the **monitoring agent** is deployed, which can be a preexisting **environment** or one created by the user. **Host**: The **URL address** of the monitored resource. If an **IP address** is needed, it must be stored in a **Secret** for enhanced **security**. **Secret**: A resource used to store **sensitive information**, such as **IP addresses** or **credentials**, ensuring **security** and **organization**. **Enable to set up automatic incidents opening**: An **option** that, when enabled, activates **automatic incident creation** upon detection of **critical issues**. **Severity**: The **level of criticality** assigned to an **incident**, allowing it to be prioritized based on **urgency**. **Check Interval**: The **time interval**, in seconds, for performing **continuous checks** on the monitored resource. **Maintenance Window**: A **feature** that temporarily **pauses monitoring**, **alerts**, and **notifications** during **planned maintenance periods**. **Application Opening Hours**: A **configuration** that defines the **operating hours** of the application, aligning **monitoring** with **active periods** and avoiding **alerts** outside those times.