Location and measuring points
Server monitoring in the EU: why location matters and where inping stands
In server monitoring, location decides three things: which response time you measure, which law applies and whether data goes to a third country. inping runs on servers in the EU, is operated by medienakzent in Konstanz, Germany, and can also measure from runners on your own hardware.
As of 5 November 2026
Reason 1: latency
How much does distance distort the measurement?
Every measurement includes the way to the server. What a distant monitor shows is not what your visitor in Germany experiences, and vice versa.
- Frankfurt to Paris (480 km) min. 5 ms
- Frankfurt to Stockholm (1,190 km) min. 12 ms
- Frankfurt to New York (6,200 km) min. 62 ms
- Frankfurt to Singapore (10,260 km) min. 103 ms
For response-time thresholds this means: measure from your users' region, and only compare values from the same runner. inping shows response time, status code and error type per runner.
Reasons 2 and 3: law and third countries
Is a data centre in the EU already the solution?
It helps, but it is not enough on its own. The server location decides on the transfer, the provider's seat on access.
Server location
If personal data goes to a country outside the EEA, you need a basis under Chapter V of the GDPR. If it stays in the EU, the question does not arise for that route.
Provider's seat
The US CLOUD Act (18 U.S.C. § 2713) obliges covered providers to hand over data in their possession or under their control, even if it is located outside the US. So ask about the group's seat and about subcontractors.
Reliability of the rule
The decision on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework applies, but it is under attack. The status with sources is under Schrems II and the Data Privacy Framework.
inping
Where does inping stand?
Here is what is documented, and equally what we do not promise.
Platform
Runs on servers in the European Union, as stated in the privacy policy.
Operator
Julian Laibach, medienakzent, Wessenbergstraße 32, 78462 Konstanz, Germany.
Law
German law applies to the terms of use and the data processing agreement.
Location database
The approximate place in notices about new devices comes from a database on our own server. No address goes to third parties for this.
Backups and logs
Logs are not copied anywhere else. Logs of your applications are not part of the backups.
Check locations
The platform's runners check from its infrastructure. We currently do not publish a list of their locations.
What does not necessarily stay in the EU
- Payment
- Paddle, from the United Kingdom, handles payment and invoicing of the paid plans as a reseller. The Free plan does not need it.
- Sending mail
- Runs through a mail provider acting as a processor. The privacy policy does not state its location; ask if you need to know.
- Vulnerability matching
- The platform asks OSV.dev and endoflife.date about package names and versions. Hostnames and people are not part of the request.
- Docker images
- If you use the agent or runner as an image, you download it from ghcr.io. The download goes directly from your host to there. Installing by script gets it from the platform.
- Webhooks
- Go to the address you enter. If your target is outside the EU, the events leave the EU.
The details are in the privacy policy and the data processing agreement.
Your own hardware
How do I measure from my own locations?
With a runner: a small program that checks your URLs from wherever it runs, in the office, in the data centre or at a second host. The results land on the platform, next to those of all other runners.
- A static program for Linux (amd64, arm64) with systemd or as a Docker image. No open port.
- Signed releases. The update job verifies updates before installing them and rolls back on an error.
- Its own user, write access only to the state directory, also in a container with a read-only file system.
- Keeps checking when the platform is unreachable and sends the results later.
- Credentials of protected URLs are processed by an own runner on your system.
- Private networks only with
private_networks = truein the local filerunner.toml; the platform only allows them for your own runners. Loopback and link-local stay blocked at all times.
Own runners per plan: Free: 1, Pro: 2, Scale: 15, Business: 50. inping shows the command with a real token under Runners → Add runner. The token is valid for 24 hours.
curl -fsSL https://www.inping.io/install-runner.sh | INPING_TOKEN=<token> sudo --preserve-env=INPING_TOKEN shImportant: Your own runners do not replace the platform's runners, they are added to them. The platform's runners also check a project's public URLs and receive its credentials for this. The results of all runners are on the platform. More in the installation guide.
In practice
When your own measuring points make the difference
The shop blocks countries
A firewall only lets visitors from Europe through. A monitor overseas then reports an outage that does not exist. An own runner shows the route from your network. The platform's runners still check public URLs, though, and count towards the verdict: if they are blocked, that can trigger an outage, and they cannot currently be excluded individually.
The application is only reachable internally
An ERP system or intranet has no public address. An own runner with a private network enabled checks it from inside; the platform's runners never get there.
Your host in Germany goes down
Monitoring in the host's customer menu can fail along with it. A check from outside its network stays independent. inping works with any host, and the agent only needs outbound HTTPS.
An agency looks after sites in several countries
One runner per region shows response times per runner, and so whether a problem is local. Several runners do not count the same outage twice.
You will find more examples under Use cases.
Frequently asked
Questions about location and measuring points
Where does inping store its data?
The platform runs on servers in the European Union. The operator is medienakzent in Konstanz, Germany. Recipients are the hosting provider and the mail provider as processors; payments run separately through Paddle.
From which locations does inping check my website?
From the platform's runners, out of their infrastructure, and in addition from every runner you operate yourself. A list of the locations of the platform's runners is currently not published. If you need a specific place, set up your own runner there.
Can I measure from my own runners only?
For public URLs, no: the platform's runners check them too, and your own runners are added. Targets in private networks, on the other hand, are checked only by your own runners, because the platform's runners cannot reach private addresses.
What does an own runner need?
A Linux host with systemd (amd64 or arm64) or Docker, and outbound HTTPS. No port has to be opened. The Free plan includes 1 own runner.
Is an EU location enough for the GDPR?
No. The location often spares you the question of third-country transfers, but the lawful basis, the data processing agreement, deletion periods and informing the people concerned remain. The seat of the provider and of its subcontractors matters as well.
Why does the measuring location affect response time?
Because signals take time. In fibre, every 1,000 km of distance costs at least about 10 ms there and back. A measurement from New York to a server in Frankfurt therefore shows at least 62 ms that a visitor in Germany never experiences.
Measure from your own location
Create an account, enter a URL, set up a runner if needed. The Free plan needs no payment details.