> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.thousandeyes.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.thousandeyes.com/solution-guides/best-practices.md).

# Best Practices

Use these guides to deploy and optimize ThousandEyes across agents, tests, dashboards, alerts, account groups, and integrations.

## Available Guides

* [**Best Practices for Implementing Account Groups**](https://docs.thousandeyes.com/solution-guides/best-practices/implementing-account-groups)
  * **Why use this:** Provides a framework for organizing infrastructure, managing permissions, and separating data across large deployments.
  * **What this is for:** Managing mass deployment, infrastructure organization, and compliance at scale.
* [**Choosing the Right Test Protocol for Cloud and Enterprise Agent Network Tests**](https://docs.thousandeyes.com/solution-guides/best-practices/how_to_choose_the_right_test_protocol_for_cloud_and_enterprise_agent_tests)
  * **Why use this:** Details the physics of probing and how different protocols interact with network policies.
  * **What this is for:** Gaining precision in test configuration and firewall traversal.
* [**Optimizing SYN vs SACK Probing Methods to Avoid Unexplainable Packet Loss**](https://docs.thousandeyes.com/solution-guides/best-practices/optimizing-syn-vs-sack-probing-methods-to-avoid-unexplainable-packet-loss)
  * **Why use this:** Explains the exact difference between TCP SYN and TCP SACK behavior, helping distinguish actual forwarding loss from firewall drops.
  * **What this is for:** Focusing on root cause analysis and gathering evidence to reduce mean time to innocence.
* [**Using Dashboards to Tell a Story**](https://docs.thousandeyes.com/solution-guides/best-practices/using-dashboards-to-tell-a-story)
  * **Why use this:** Shows how to frame dashboards as communication tools, focusing on executive summaries, SLA reporting, and before-and-after comparisons.
  * **What this is for:** Communicating ROI, vendor SLAs, and strategic value to leadership.
* [**Self-Serve Test Settings and Alerts for Connected Devices**](https://docs.thousandeyes.com/solution-guides/best-practices/cdev_test_settings_alerts)
  * **Why use this:** Explains how to manage test creation, agent assignment, and alerting at scale across Connected Devices fleets, including ISP routers and whiteboxes, without manual "Click-Ops".
  * **What this is for:** Scaling mass deployment and automating configuration for large distributed agent fleets.
* [**Streaming Connected Devices Test Metrics to Google Pub/Sub**](https://docs.thousandeyes.com/solution-guides/best-practices/google-pubsub-for-connected-devices)
  * **Why use this:** Explains how to export test metrics programmatically from ISP routers and whiteboxes to Google Pub/Sub for external storage, custom analytics, or automation workflows.
  * **What this is for:** Integrating large-scale fleet data into broader Infrastructure as Code (IaC) environments and custom data pipelines.