What is Health Check?
An endpoint or process that verifies a service is running and functioning correctly.
Why It Matters
Health checks enable load balancers and orchestrators to detect and replace unhealthy services automatically.
Real-World Example
A /health endpoint that returns 200 OK when the app is working, or 503 when it cannot connect to the database.
“Understanding terms like Health Check matters because it helps you have better conversations with developers and make smarter decisions about your software. You do not need to be technical. You just need to know enough to ask the right questions.”
Related Terms
Monitoring
Continuously observing your application and infrastructure to detect problems and understand performance.
Load Balancer
A system that distributes incoming traffic across multiple servers to prevent any one from being overwhelmed
Uptime
The percentage of time your application is available and working
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Related Terms
Load Balancer
A system that distributes incoming traffic across multiple servers to prevent any one from being overwhelmed
Uptime
The percentage of time your application is available and working
Monitoring
Continuously observing your application and infrastructure to detect problems and understand performance.
Server
A computer that runs continuously to handle requests, store data, and serve your application to users
Serverless
A way to run code without managing your own servers, where the cloud provider handles everything
Edge Functions
Code that runs on servers close to your users around the world, rather than in one central location