System Design · Middle · Question 65 of 75

How does synthetic monitoring differ from real user monitoring (RUM)?

✓Correct answer: Synthetic runs scripted checks from controlled locations on a schedule; RUM collects data from actual users' sessions
2They're the same
3Synthetic monitoring only checks uptime of databases

Explanation

Synthetic tests catch outages and regressions even with no traffic; RUM shows the real distribution of devices and networks.

Further reading

Test yourself

Take the System Design · Middle quiz: questions and options are shuffled, and you get a review of your mistakes at the end.