SFTP Monitoring for Secure File Exchange
Payroll files, bank statements, healthcare records, partner data feeds — the sensitive stuff moves over SFTP. WatchFor connects to your SFTP servers over SSH on schedule, verifies the handshake and login succeed, and alerts you before a stalled transfer becomes a compliance incident.
Real SSH sessions, verified end to end
Because an open port 22 proves very little.
Full SSH handshake
Every check completes a real SSH negotiation with the server — key exchange included — not just a TCP connect to port 22.
Login verification
Optionally authenticate on each check, so expired credentials, locked accounts or a broken auth backend are caught before partners are.
Directory listing checks
Optionally list a directory on every check — verifying the file system behind SSH responds, with file counts tracked over time.
Write & throughput tests
Enable a real write test and upload/download speed measurement via alert rules — end-to-end proof that transfers work at the speed your deadlines assume.
Stage timings
Connect, handshake, login, listing and transfer are timed separately, so degradation points straight at the failing stage.
Multi-region checks
Verify your SFTP endpoint is reachable from the regions your partners actually connect from.
Confirmed alerts
Failures are verified from multiple regions before an incident opens — no pages for one bad network path.
Uptime history & SLA
Per-server availability history you can hand to auditors and partners.
Why monitor SFTP?
SFTP is where unattended, regulated and deadline-driven transfers live. Failures don't announce themselves — a bank file simply doesn't arrive, a payroll upload silently fails, and the problem surfaces as a missed deadline rather than an error message. Monitoring converts that silent failure into an immediate alert with evidence.
Know the endpoint is down before a partner's upload fails
Catch expired credentials and locked accounts with real logins
Optional listing, write and throughput tests prove transfers work
Protect payroll, banking and healthcare transfer deadlines
Verify reachability from your partners' side of the internet
Handshake-time trends to spot degradation early
Confirmed multi-region alerts — real outages only
Alerts to Slack, PagerDuty, email and 20+ other channels
Availability history for audits and partner SLAs
How SFTP monitoring works
From setup to alert in a couple of minutes.
Add your SFTP server
Enter the hostname and port; optionally add credentials so each check verifies a real login.
We connect over SSH
Probes complete the SSH handshake — and login, if configured — at your chosen interval from selected regions.
Failures get confirmed
A failed handshake or login is re-verified from other regions before an incident opens.
You get alerted with detail
See exactly which stage failed — connection, handshake or authentication — from where, and since when.
Who needs SFTP monitoring
Anywhere sensitive files move on a deadline.
Finance and payroll
Bank files, payment batches and payroll uploads run on strict windows. An SFTP outage discovered at deadline is a crisis; discovered by monitoring, it's a fix.
Healthcare and insurance
Claims, lab results and member files exchanged under compliance requirements. Keep evidence the channel was available — and know instantly when it wasn't.
Managed file transfer (MFT) operators
If you run the SFTP service others depend on, independent multi-region monitoring shows availability as customers experience it.
Data engineering pipelines
Upstream providers drop files; downstream jobs consume them. Monitoring the SFTP link explains missing data at the source, not three jobs later.
SFTP monitoring FAQ
Common questions about monitoring secure file servers.
Keep secure transfers on schedule
Add an SFTP monitor in under a minute — free plan, no credit card required.