Firms unsure about their web site's performance can now have it monitored at no cost, after UK startup MyWebAlert! launched a free monitoring service this week.

After registering, web sites can be polled every five minutes from three separate MyWebAlert! monitoring systems, hosted in the US, the UK and Switzerland.

Managing director John Earley said, "We're not charging for the service, and we've built the system to handle half a million users."

If a web site fails, the system retries the site and alerts the owners, Earley said. "If the system does not receive a single successful response within 15 minutes [it sends an alarm]."

The service also provides monthly management reports and supplies a macro that enables users to analyse performance data over time. The monthly report details the number of times the web site was probed and the number of failures.

MyWebAlert! plans to follow up this service with other offerings that will eventually form “a comprehensive suite of network management solutions”.