New Relic Review

PROS: I’m not very sure that words can explain the importance and value New Relic added to our working process, and the dev team standing behind it. Halfway from launching our application to monitoring servers, we discovered that there is a way to observe how the app works, to measure response time and to obtain tangible data related to errors. In fact, we optimized both slow and frequent tasks with this built in monitoring tool. We detected background tasks and profiled individual endpoints, but the best part of it is that we got notified every time behavior went out of the usual. Another feature that can help you decide is a responsive timeline for past events, one that could include even deployments and downtime rates.

CONS: You’d have to do meaningful savings before you purchase a larger deployment, because it costs a lot. It can also confuse you at the beginning, because there are many original features that were unfamiliar to the web dev world before. But that’s just a matter of time.

PROS: I’ve never seen better reporting features, the tool is great and that’s a fact. I detects any type of misbehavior (mostly hooks and modules in our case), and it integrates perfectly with Drupal (our monitoring CMS). It can also help you to analyze front end performance, and be on dot whit the particular action you’re monitoring.

CONS: An overall view is on the table, but I don’t really think the product can help you with specific problems. In fact, it can take ages before you discover what is actually wrong. Let me explain this more closely: The tool will detect a problem, but you would have to get inside your logs to see what the jazz is all about. I wish they would SFTP into your system, and enable us to access the logs immediately.

PROS: We were on the long run looking for a tool which can really improve the performance of our websites. We left this problem in the past with New Relic, and we have great servers to prove that it is actually working. I’ve honestly never used a better tool for the purpose! Our company is an admirer of their detail accuracy, knowing as much as the timeline of a triggered webpage (we know exactly how much it takes for data to be presented to users, and we can interpret every delay accurately). The ultimate result is full exposure of dysfunctional codes and queries, and you won’t be sitting on the fence too long before asking a dev team to deal with it. I must say I’d be lost without these New Relic’s reports. Obviously, code optimization doesn’t carry the can for every webpage’s malicious performance, but in case it does we know it. That’s why we rely on New Relic so badly: the review features are the best they can get. It really helps. It just does!

CONS: I was thinking about this, but nothing crossed my mind. I think all features work well. Maybe they should be more innovative in terms of availability, a mobile app or a Mac version, per se. The tool is so good that I think everyone should be able to track performance with it, wherever they are. I would really like those versions for myself.

PROS: I like it because it is the most uncomplicated and easy software I ever had to install. All you have to do Is to insert your data (I attached my agent directory to the server), and the tool will do the JVM for you. Detailed insight is available with a single click. You can move easily through hierarchical databases, for instance stack traces or Java calls. Besides, the UI is as clean as it can possibly be, and it doesn’t require specific training to perform basic operations.

CONS: One has to install it on each server separately, and it affects the speed of the overall performance. Sometimes, it fails to recognize calls automatically (data stores, SQS in my case), and I think you can find better software to do this for you.

PROS: If this is your first encounter with New Relic, forget about me and ‘run’ to their website! You might be missing on the most innovative tool for active analysis and software development. I’ve honestly never worked with something so perfect and I believe it is an investment for the future of every company. One of the things New Relic des for you is to log every app error with detailed explanation (the headers, the timing, the request parameter, or even the response), and you’ll have all data in one place. Instead of recapturing two years of previous work to detect where you went wrong, install it, and you’ll have all data on types, dates, duration and responses on errors right in front of you. New Relic will even calculate the frequency of errors, and will suggest solutions. I thought this was impossible before. It’s not all about errors, though. New Relic pays attention to the quality of your performance, measuring response time and coming up with accomplishment rates. It is the profiling tool of the future, with insight in every method, and with a great comparison capability. It will help you determine the best method for each request, and will detect any implementation issue neglected during your submission. It will send you email alerts whenever the app crashes, or it detects some type of unusual behavior. Let me tell you that no configuration threshold can beat that. The icing is the configuration: perfect, perfect, perfect!

CONS: That sounded like a fairytale, didn’t it? Unluckily, for some, the fairytale doesn’t have a happy ending. On-budget firms may find it appropriate to sacrifice quality for price. I understand it; the price is not modest after all. Still, if you tried it and you liked how the thing went, or better yet if it deployed your app on Heroku, call the support team and negotiate the price. It can be painful to buy it on your own.

PROS: New Relic is the service of the future! They are the school example on how to analyze web apps (sql executions, javascripts, etc), how to stay in control of performance, how to detect mistakes before users notice them, and how to make your websites/apps visually appealing. We are so lucky to have New Relic to help us monitor our work, and at the same time surprised by its simplicity and easy installation.

CONS: Good things cost, and New Relic makes that quite obvious. I wouldn’t complain much about it, but I would warn you that php installations are not as laid on the line as one would expect. Nothing else to say here.

PROS: It doesn’t just ‘monitor’ different aspects of our work, but it also connects them in a comprehensive union. I was pleased to discover that response time can be divided in backend layers (the ‘python, redis, postgres’ network), while quality remains intact.

CONS: I was sold on the amazing trial version, it had all of the necessary features and it performed quite well. The painful moment arrived when I had to pay for a first-level package, the IMHO was very expensive. I don’t fancy the upgrading prices either.

PROS: My favorite parts are the monthly reports on performance, enabling me to supervise the entire workflow of our web development without being directly involved in it. I find he metrics to be accurate and comprehensive, meaning that I can divide them into smaller chunks which are much easier to work with. Overall, very easy and understandable.

CONS: I don’t feel competent to answer this question, since I haven’t used any comparable product in the past. The only thing I can say is that the software met my expectations, I am not thinking of changing it any time soon.

PROS: I like that it didn’t take me days to set it up, and even if I was suspicious at the beginning, I received a feature-packed monitoring system. Performance is outstanding so far, having in mind that we’re only using a free plan to keep an eye on our service. Imagine what an upper plan could do!

CONS: Premium must be amazing, but I’m sure it costs an arm and a leg. However, I don’t think this will be an issue for smaller companies; they will be just fine with the free one.