Important changes - August 2012

During the last weeks and months we learned a lot about how people use drupalmonitor.com, how we need to deal with all the gathered data, how we can keep the performance high, how we can translate plain monitoring data into actionable information. Therefore we reworked a lot of code as well as we redesigned the drupal monitor connector module. Here are the insights:

Backend changes

The biggest change in the backend was the switch from MySQL to CouchDB as main storage for sitedata. The concept of a relational database did not fit our needs in terms of performance and flexibility. We rewrote most of the "crawler code", the Drupal score calculation code as well as the integration into frontend. With this changes, a couple of really cool things come up:

  • A nice API for site owners, so you can integrate drupalmonitor data into custom intranets (JSON)
  • Super flexible backend datastructures, so you can write your own geeky monitoring hooks
  • Better e-mail alerting, so you are instantely informned when a site screws up

Frontend changes

We already rolled out most of the new app interface. Our goal was to reduce and focus on actionable information. Our landing page still sucks - but a brand new and fancy frontpage is on the go!

Drupalmonitor_Connector Module

Together with the backend changes, adaptions in the Drupalmonitor_Connector module were required. We will roll out the new backend together with a new version of the Drupalmonitor_Connector module on 10.08.2012 in the evening (CET). We encourage all existing clients to install the new connector module in time to keep the site monitored. Unfortunately we won't support the old versions (7.1.9 and below).

We (temporary) drop support for Drupal 6

Unfortunately we drop support for Drupal 6 until the Drupal 7 connector is available on drupal.org as an approved module. Why? We need to focus - 90% of the sites on drupalmonitor.com are D7 sites. A backport will be done asap.

What's next?

Our main goals are:

  • Publish the drupal monitor connector as approved project on drupal.org
  • Roll out the new backend asap
  • Educate users about how to use drupalmonitor.com