FTP Monitoring for File Servers That Partners Depend On
Nightly exports, partner feeds, print-shop uploads, legacy integrations — FTP still quietly moves business-critical files. WatchFor connects to your FTP servers on schedule, verifies they accept connections and logins, and alerts you before a failed transfer becomes a failed business process.
Real FTP checks, not just an open port
Because port 21 answering doesn't mean transfers work.
Full protocol handshake
Each check speaks actual FTP — connecting, reading the server banner and verifying the session, not just confirming the port is open.
Login verification
Optionally authenticate on every check, so expired credentials or a broken auth backend are caught before your partners hit them.
Directory listing checks
Optionally list a directory on every check — verifying the file system responds and tracking file counts, not just the login prompt.
Write & throughput tests
Turn on a real write test and upload/download speed measurement via alert rules — proving transfers work end to end, at the speed partners expect.
Stage timings
Connect, login, listing and transfer are timed separately, so you see exactly which stage is degrading.
Multi-region checks
Partners connect from everywhere. Verify your FTP service is reachable globally, not just from your own network.
Confirmed alerts
Failures are re-verified from multiple regions before an incident opens — real outages only.
Uptime history & SLA
Availability records for every file server, ready for partner SLAs and audits.
Why monitor FTP?
FTP failures are usually discovered by the worst possible person: the partner whose upload failed at 3 AM, or the analyst whose morning report never arrived. Because these transfers run unattended, a dead FTP server can go unnoticed for days while queues silently back up. Monitoring makes the failure loud and immediate instead.
Know a file server is down before a partner's transfer fails
Catch expired or broken credentials with real login checks
Optional listing, write and throughput tests prove transfers work
Protect scheduled exports and imports that run unattended
Verify global reachability, the way partners actually connect
Response-time trends to spot degradation early
Confirmed multi-region alerts — no false alarms
Alerts to Slack, PagerDuty, email and 20+ other channels
Uptime history for partner SLAs and compliance
How FTP monitoring works
From setup to alert in a couple of minutes.
Add your FTP server
Enter the hostname and port; optionally add credentials to verify logins as part of every check.
We connect on schedule
Probes perform a real FTP session at your chosen interval, from the regions you select.
Failures get confirmed
A failed connection or login is re-checked from other regions before an incident opens.
You get alerted with detail
The alert shows what failed — connection, banner or login — from where, and since when.
Who needs FTP monitoring
Anywhere files still move on a schedule.
B2B integrations and EDI
Orders, invoices and inventory files exchanged with partners over FTP. When the endpoint dies, business processes stall — monitoring catches it before the queue backs up.
Data and reporting pipelines
Nightly extracts dropped onto an FTP server for downstream systems. A silent outage means missing reports in the morning; an alert at 2 AM means the on-call fixes it first.
Media and print workflows
Agencies, printers and broadcasters still receive large assets over FTP. Keep the intake door open — and know instantly when it isn't.
Hosting providers
Customers upload sites over FTP. Independent monitoring shows the service is healthy as customers see it, and gives support hard data when they claim otherwise.
FTP monitoring FAQ
Common questions about monitoring file servers.
Keep the files flowing
Add an FTP monitor in under a minute — free plan, no credit card required.