We Got Tired of Monitoring Tools That Suck
So we built one that doesn't. No artificial delays. No corporate fluff. Just raw speed and zero BS.
Our Story
nark.dev was founded by Nick, a software developer, network engineer, and all-round geek by trade. After years of frustration with existing monitoring solutions that were too expensive, too annoying, and just not right, he decided to build something better.
"I've been working with monitoring tools for over a decade, and I was fed up with all the other options out there," says Nick. "They were either overly complex enterprise solutions with ridiculous price tags, or they were too simple and couldn't handle distributed checks properly. The worst part was the false positives - getting woken up at 3 AM for a 'critical' alert that turned out to be nothing."
The journey began in Sydney, Australia, out of sheer frustration with the lack of better solutions for distributed checks and monitoring. Nick had experienced one too many middle-of-the-night alerts for problems that weren't real, and missed alerts for issues that were critical.
"I started building nark.dev as a side project while working as a network engineer for a large tech company. I was responsible for keeping their infrastructure online, and the existing tools were letting me down. I'd spend my days fixing the monitoring system instead of the actual infrastructure."
"I've been working on nark.dev for years now, refining it based on real-world needs rather than marketing checkboxes. Every feature has been built because I needed it myself or because customers specifically asked for it. I've thrown away more code than I've kept, always focusing on simplicity and reliability."
What started as a side project has grown into a platform trusted by companies around the world. The mission remains the same: create a monitoring solution that's powerful enough for complex infrastructure but simple enough that you can set it up in minutes.
"The most rewarding part has been hearing from users who tell me they can finally sleep through the night because they trust nark.dev to alert them only when there's a real problem. That's what this is all about - peace of mind without the bullshit."
Tech That Doesn't Get in Your Way
At nark.dev, we don't waste time on buzzwords. Our stack is built for raw speed, zero bullshit reliability, and actual scalability — not marketing demos.
Backend Architecture
- Go-powered Core
Our backend is written in Go, chosen for its performance, concurrency model, and reliability. Go's lightweight goroutines allow us to handle thousands of concurrent monitoring checks with minimal resource usage.
- Distributed Controller
The controller service orchestrates all monitoring activities, from scheduling checks to processing results and managing incidents. It's designed to be horizontally scalable for high availability.
- Agent Network
Our agent system allows for distributed monitoring from multiple locations. Agents can be deployed anywhere - in your data centers, cloud environments, or at the edge - providing a true global view of your services.
Data & Messaging
- PostgreSQL Database
We use PostgreSQL for reliable, transactional storage of all configuration and historical data. Its robust feature set and reliability make it perfect for our needs.
- NATS Messaging
NATS provides the messaging backbone that connects our distributed components. It enables real-time communication between controllers and agents, with built-in redundancy and fault tolerance.
- Time-Series Metrics
Performance metrics are stored in a specialized time-series database, optimized for fast querying and visualization of monitoring data over time.
Frontend & UX
- React & TypeScript
Our modern frontend is built with React and TypeScript, providing a responsive, type-safe interface that works across devices.
- Real-time Updates
The dashboard updates in real-time as new monitoring data comes in, giving you immediate visibility into your infrastructure's health.
- Accessibility Focus
We've built our UI with accessibility in mind, ensuring that everyone can use nark.dev effectively, regardless of ability.
Monitoring Capabilities
- Comprehensive Check Types
From HTTP and HTTPS to TCP, UDP, ICMP, DNS, and SSL certificate monitoring, we support all the protocols you need to monitor your entire stack.
- Intelligent Alerting
Our alerting system uses advanced algorithms to reduce false positives and ensure you're only notified when there's a real issue that needs attention.
- Extensible Architecture
The platform is designed to be extensible, allowing for custom check types and integrations with your existing tools and workflows.
The Human Behind the Code
Nick
Founder & Developer
Software developer, network engineer, and all-round geek by trade. Nick has spent over a decade working with various monitoring solutions before deciding to build nark.dev out of pure frustration.
With experience across infrastructure, networking, and software development, Nick brings a unique perspective to the monitoring space, focusing on creating tools that actually solve real problems without unnecessary complexity.
Based in Sydney, Australia, he continues to refine and expand nark.dev based on real-world feedback and his own experiences managing complex systems. His mission: build monitoring that doesn't suck.
What We Stand For
These aren't corporate values written by a committee. These are the principles that drive every decision we make at nark.dev.
Reliability First
We believe that monitoring tools should be more reliable than the systems they monitor. We design for redundancy and resilience at every level.
Simplicity
Complexity is the enemy of reliability. We strive to make our platform simple to use without sacrificing power or flexibility.
Customer Focus
We build features based on customer needs, not industry trends. Our roadmap is driven by real-world use cases.
Transparency
We believe in being open about our operations, our pricing, and our roadmap. We share our successes and our failures.
Continuous Improvement
We're never satisfied with the status quo. We're constantly iterating and improving our platform based on feedback and data.
Global Perspective
We build for a global audience with diverse needs. Our platform works across regions, time zones, and languages.
Stop Wasting Time With Crappy Alerts
Try nark.dev free for 7 days. Set up in minutes, not days. No credit card required. No sales calls.