Pouring Cache Flavored Candy

Sometimes visualizing how cache works can be difficult for some, here’s an illustration that may help.

Cache Control : The Hourglass Illustration

For this illustration you will need to visualize the path from your server to your client’s computer via the internet as a large hourglass. Data needs to be sent back & forth through the hourglass constantly. Pouring 1 lb. of M&Ms through, and back and forth, takes a long time. But, assume that brown M&Ms are unchanging, while red, green, etc. may change flavor. If you can leave all the brown ones on the browser side - drain them from the hourglass - then the remaining ½ lb. of other colors can be sent back and forth much more quickly.

In the case of Cache-related headers: Creating specific rules for how long each colored M&M can be kept on the browser side - brown ones never change, green ones change every week, red ones change daily - means even fewer must be poured back and forth.

A product like Port80’s CacheRight, a Windows IIS performance tool, can help you to control your cache, save time, and retain your visitors. (M&Ms not included however)

Want even more information on Cache Control? Vist our site for an in-depth explanation.

/P80

Hotlinking – Is it really that big of a deal?

Well, if having your bandwidth stolen right out from under you without your permission can be considered a “big deal”, then yes, yes it is.

Let’s say you have a 100K JPEG that someone links to and places the image on their site, presenting the image as their own. However, the image is still calling from your server. Now, let’s say that particular JPEG sees 1,000 hits a day on the page, that’s 100MB of data that’s being transferred from your site without your knowledge, or permission, all without having the benefit of having any actual visitors coming to your site. I’d say this is a fairly big deal. Read the rest of this entry »

What’s New at Port80 (March 2010)

Website Changes

Request a Reactivation
Now under the Support tab on the top navigation there is a link to a form where our clients can request reactivation of their software when they have moved to a new server or reinstalled their software.
http://www.port80software.com/support/reactivationrequest.asp
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Compression Testing Tools on the Web

Get the most out of your website by testing your site compression with the following resources
WebPagetest
A free online testing tool that provides you with a full optimization check list for your website.
http://www.webpagetest.org/test

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HTTP Compression: Compressing Files, How Low Can You Go?

HTTP compression on IIS is easy to enable with tools such as httpZip or ZipEnable and requires no client-side configuration to obtain benefits, making it a very smart way to get extra performance and a better user experience.

It’s well known that there is a limited amount of bandwidth on most Internet connections and anything IT administrators can do to accelerate site load time benefits not only the organization, but users as well. HTTP compression, a function built into both browsers and servers, can substantially improve site performance by reducing the amount of time required to transfer data between the server and the client. When data is encoded using a compressed format like GZip or Deflate, it introduces complexity into the HTTP request/response interaction by necessitating a type of content negotiation. This content negotiation communicates with the browser, deciding if it can or cannot handle the compressed data and sends the appropriate version of the resource to the browser.

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