Optimizing Web Servers for Wireless

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.cewindows.net/faqs/optimizingwebserver.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.cewindows.net/faqs/optim...ngwebserver.htm</a><br /><br /></div>"So you’ve got a website and you are interested in providing content for wireless devices? Did you know that HTML can be compressed before it is sent to a Pocket PC, Handheld PC or Tablet PC? Well you website can be faster for free! Microsoft has implemented the HTML 1.1 protocol including support for gzip and deflate formats in the Pocket PC 2000 and 2002, Handheld PC 2000 and desktop web browsers like Internet Explorer 4 or later. Other web browsers like Netscape Navigator 4 or later and Lynx 2.6 or later also support HTML compression. The Pocket PC and Handheld PC web browsers reports "ACCEPT_ENCODING: gzip, deflate" as does most modern browsers. So if you implement HTML compression, your website HTML will be compressed approximately 50% or more!"<br /><br />If you're the webmaster of a site, you'll want to read this article. We've been discussing this ourselves, and will likely do a trial implementation. Our phpBB forums already have gzip enabled, but our home page and other non-forum pages do not. Especially on our mobile page, this might cut down the load time. We don't have a lot of CPU cycles to spare right now (our server goes down several times a day), but I've been discussing this with some other site owners and the CPU savings from dishing up smaller overall pages should meet or exceed the CPU hit from enabling GZIP.

[surur]

Call me a cynic, but isn't the biggest problem with PIE rendering times, not the speed at which the data comes across the wires.

So this will probably make no difference at all :(

Surur

[Don Sorcinelli]

Call me a cynic, but isn't the biggest problem with PIE rendering times, not the speed at which the data comes across the wires.

So this will probably make no difference at all :(

Surur

You are correct - this technique does nothing to address the PIE rendering times. It can, however, speed the process of data transmission, which is a component in overall performance.

The other big advantage to compression that many have pointed out relates to those mobile users who are metered on data coming across the wire. Using compression reduces the metered data :mrgreen: .

DonS

[jeffmd]

Ive actually been reading about the html protocals and gzip support, but mainly ive been looking into a service program that strips web pages of un-needed info. not only because afaik, all PPC web browsers do not support gzip, but also because I want to start browsing web sites via my cell phone, and even downloading html of big sites like cnn can take 50+ kbytes per page. the best solution ive found so far is a program called proxomitron. it is a proxy that was initialy designed to work on the computer you're using and you route your web stream though it, and it will strip all sorts of things. Its primary use is to remove ad banners and such (or modify them to be less annoying) but it also supports a ton of other filtering features.. like frames and stuff. if you have a computer on a 24hr connection, you can connect to the proxomotron over the net (you tell pocketpc that your home computer is the proxy server).

Also proxomiron DOES use gzip, so even if web pages didnt use gzip compression, say your using a laptop with a gzip compliant browser, you can connect through proxomitron and obtain the bandwith savings (remember, proxomitron is to be running on your home computer your connecting to, wont help bandwidth if its running on the laptop) as if the sight had used gzip compression.

you can find this program at www.proxomitron.org

[jeffmd]

hmm, grr, finally tried my laptop out on it and was still pulling 75K in html alone from cnn's front page, compression was definetly not being used. and thats with all the ad's striped. sigh.. looking for a proxy that specificly uses compression atm.