Performance By Design

This is a continuation of a series of blog entries on this topic. The series starts  here :  http://computerperformancebydesign.com/why-is-my-web-app-running-slowly-part-1/ Real User Measurements (RUM) The other way to obtain client-side Page Load time measurements – and one that is becoming increasingly popular – is a tool that measures page load time from inside the browser. The web browser-based performance tools we have looked at like ChromeSpeed or the corresponding Network tab in the Internet Explorer Developer Tools measure page load time from inside the web client. But, as we saw, those performance tools function like YSlow, requiring you to have direct (or remote) access to the web client. Real User Measurements refer to measurements of how long it took to access your web site acquired from inside the web browser running on your customers’ machines and operated directly by them. Those are the real users whose experience with our web sites we want to capture and ...

This is a continuation of a series of blog entries on this topic. The series starts  here . In this post, I discuss one more performance tool that belongs in the YSlow family. It is called WebPageTest , and it makes a credible attempt at addressing some of the limitations of the YSlow approach I have been writing about. The WebPageTest  tool does measure Page Load time, and offers several other useful goodies, including a revised set of performance optimization rules to consider. WebPageTest  builds on the legacy of YSlow, while also trying to address some of the limitations of the original approach with today’s JavaScript-enhanced web applications.  Focusing as the original YSlow approach does on the web page composition process performed inside the browser, one of YSlow’s legacies is that it spawned the development of web application performance tools that measure the page load time, addressing one of the important limitations of the original YSlow approach...

This is a continuation of a series of blog entries on this topic. The series starts  here . Since HTTP is a wire protocol built on top of TCP/IP, the network packet sniffer technology that is widely used in network diagnostics and performance optimization is readily adapted to measuring web browser Page Load time. Network sniffers like WireShark can intercept and capture all the HTTP traffic and are typically configured to gather related network events, such as DNS look-ups. It is easy to get overwhelmed with all the information that these network diagnostic tools provide. Often software developers prefer network tools that are more focused on the HTTP protocol and the page composition process associated with assembling the DOM and rendering it in the browser. The Developer Tools that ship with the major web browsers include performance tools that measure Page Load time and help you diagnose why your page is slow to load. These tools work by analyzing the network packets sent an...

This is a continuation of a series of blog entries on this topic. The series starts  here . In this post, I will discuss three approaches to measuring actual web page load times, something which is quite important for a variety of reasons, some of which I have already discussed. Measurements of web page load time capture service level measurements from the standpoint of the customer. Service level measurements also enable performance analysts to use decomposition techniques, breaking down page load time into its components: browser render time, network transmission delays, IP domain name lookup, TCP session connection, etc. The first approach to measuring web page load times was built on top of network packet capture technology, which was already capable of capturing the network packets associated with HTTP GET and POST Requests and their associated Response Messages. Packet tracing is associated with network sniffers like WireShark and Netmon that play a huge role in the data...