--- title: #basics — page 2 of 3 description: 52 articles about basics — guides and explainers from the WatchFor team. canonical: https://watchfor.io/blog/tag/basics/page/2 --- [All posts](/blog) # #basics — page 2 Articles tagged "basics". [All](/blog)[Monitoring](/blog/category/monitoring)[Networking](/blog/category/networking)[Performance](/blog/category/performance)[Security](/blog/category/security)[Reliability](/blog/category/reliability)[Email](/blog/category/email)[DevOps](/blog/category/devops)[Engineering](/blog/category/engineering) [All articles](/blog/all) 52 article s · page 2 of 3 [NetworkingMar 04, 2026 ## 301 vs 302 Redirects: which one should you use? Both send visitors from one URL to another — but to search engines they mean very different things. Use the wrong one and you can quietly tank your SEO. Here's the difference.WatchFor Team3 min read](/blog/301-vs-302-redirects)[NetworkingFeb 22, 2026 ## ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED: what it means and how to fix it Connection refused means you reached the server's door — and it slammed shut. Nothing is listening (or something is blocking). Here's how to track down which.WatchFor Team3 min read](/blog/connection-refused)[MonitoringFeb 20, 2026 ## How to Monitor a Website (a step-by-step guide) Monitoring your website sounds technical, but the essentials take minutes. Here's a plain, step-by-step guide to going from 'I hope it's up' to 'I'll know the second it isn't'.WatchFor Team3 min read](/blog/how-to-monitor-a-website)[MonitoringFeb 18, 2026 ## Server Monitoring Basics: CPU, memory, disk and network Before an app falls over, the server usually shows it coming. Here are the four resources to always watch — and what 'healthy' versus 'about to break' looks like for each.WatchFor Team3 min read](/blog/server-monitoring-basics)[NetworkingFeb 14, 2026 ## What is a Network Port? (and how to monitor one) An IP address gets you to the right machine; a port gets you to the right service on it. Here's what ports are, the common ones, and why monitoring them catches outages a website check misses.WatchFor Team3 min read](/blog/what-is-a-network-port)[MonitoringFeb 12, 2026 ## Keyword Monitoring: catching the '200 OK but broken' page A page can return a perfect 200 OK and still be completely broken. Keyword monitoring checks the actual content — so a blank page, an error, or a defacement doesn't slip past your checks.WatchFor Team3 min read](/blog/keyword-monitoring)[MonitoringFeb 04, 2026 ## How Often Should You Monitor? (choosing a check interval) Check too rarely and you find out about outages late; check constantly and you pay for it. Here's how to choose a monitoring interval that matches what each service is actually worth.WatchFor Team3 min read](/blog/monitoring-interval)[MonitoringFeb 02, 2026 ## Why Monitor From Multiple Locations? Checking your site from one place gives you one opinion — and it's often wrong. Here's why monitoring from multiple global locations kills false alarms and reveals problems a single check can't see.WatchFor Team3 min read](/blog/global-monitoring-locations)[PerformanceJan 31, 2026 ## How to Speed Up Your Website (the high-impact wins first) Website speed affects conversions, bounce rate and even SEO. The good news: most of the gains come from a short list of fixes. Here they are, roughly in order of impact.WatchFor Team3 min read](/blog/how-to-speed-up-your-website)[PerformanceJan 23, 2026 ## Lighthouse Explained: how to read the score Lighthouse gives your page a 0–100 score across performance, accessibility, SEO and more. Here's what it actually measures, how to read it, and the trap of chasing a perfect 100.WatchFor Team3 min read](/blog/lighthouse-explained)[PerformanceJan 21, 2026 ## Image Optimization for the Web (the biggest easy win) Images are usually the heaviest thing on a page — and the easiest to fix. Here's how to make them load fast without looking worse: compress, resize, modern formats, and lazy loading.WatchFor Team3 min read](/blog/image-optimization)[PerformanceJan 19, 2026 ## Caching Explained: browser, CDN and server caches Caching is the closest thing the web has to free speed: store a result once, reuse it many times. Here are the three layers of caching, how each works, and the one hard part — invalidation.WatchFor Team3 min read](/blog/caching-explained)[PerformanceJan 15, 2026 ## Gzip vs Brotli: web compression compared Text compression shrinks your HTML, CSS and JS before they travel — for free speed. Here's how gzip and Brotli compare, and which to use where.WatchFor Team3 min read](/blog/gzip-vs-brotli)[NetworkingJan 11, 2026 ## What is Latency? (and how to reduce it) Latency is the delay between asking for something and getting it — and it shapes how fast everything online feels. Here's what it is, what causes it, and the practical ways to cut it.WatchFor Team3 min read](/blog/what-is-latency)[NetworkingJan 09, 2026 ## Bandwidth vs Latency: what's the difference? “I have fast internet, so why is this slow?” Because speed has two dimensions — bandwidth and latency — and they're not the same thing. Here's the difference, with a simple analogy.WatchFor Team3 min read](/blog/bandwidth-vs-latency)[NetworkingJan 07, 2026 ## What is Packet Loss? (causes, effects and fixes) When data packets vanish in transit, calls stutter, games rubber-band and pages crawl — even on a 'fast' connection. Here's what packet loss is, what causes it, and how to track it down.WatchFor Team3 min read](/blog/what-is-packet-loss)[NetworkingJan 05, 2026 ## Anycast Explained: one IP, served from everywhere Anycast is the clever routing trick behind fast CDNs and resilient DNS: one IP address answered by the nearest of many servers. Here's how it works and why it matters.WatchFor Team3 min read](/blog/anycast-explained)[NetworkingJan 03, 2026 ## What is BGP? (and why it can break the whole internet) BGP is the protocol that decides how traffic travels between the world's networks — the internet's routing map. When it goes wrong, large chunks of the internet go dark. Here's how it works.WatchFor Team3 min read](/blog/what-is-bgp)[NetworkingJan 01, 2026 ## What is a Reverse Proxy? A reverse proxy is the front door to your servers — handling traffic before it ever reaches your app. Here's what it does, why nearly every serious site uses one, and how it differs from a forward proxy.WatchFor Team3 min read](/blog/reverse-proxy-explained)[NetworkingDec 30, 2025 ## Load Balancing Explained A load balancer spreads traffic across many servers so no single one gets overwhelmed — and quietly routes around the ones that fail. Here's how it works and why it's the backbone of scalable, reliable sites.WatchFor Team3 min read](/blog/load-balancing-explained) --- Canonical page: https://watchfor.io/blog/tag/basics/page/2 · Site guide: https://watchfor.io/llms.txt