What is an HTTP Check?
An HTTP check is a network request sent to a web server to verify that a URL is reachable, responding correctly, and returning the expected content. When you run an HTTP check, the monitoring agent connects to your target URL, records the HTTP status code, measures the total response time, inspects SSL certificate validity, and follows any redirect chains — giving you a complete picture of how your website behaves from the outside.
Unlike a simple ping, which only confirms that a server is reachable at the network level, an HTTP check validates that the entire web stack is functioning: DNS resolution, TCP connection, TLS handshake, application response, and content delivery. A server can be "up" at the network layer while returning HTTP 503 errors or serving corrupted pages — an HTTP check catches these issues that a ping would miss entirely.
Emercom runs HTTP checks from 22 monitoring servers simultaneously, spanning 15 countries across 5 continents. This means you see not just whether your site is up, but where it is up — a critical distinction when serving a global audience through CDNs, load balancers, or multi-region infrastructure.