A system and method provide in-line server health checks to determine server health without having to wait for a next out-of-band polling interval as with conventional methods. By determining server health directly resulting from TCP and HTTP client requests, multiple connection retries on an unavailable server are prevented. The method for providing server health checking of a server in a network includes activating an in-line server health checking mechanism by monitoring a data path of a server as to health status. Results from the health status analysis are ultimately reported to an authority on server health.