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

What is Cache Control?

What is Cache Control?

Cache control is not to be confused directly with caching itself, which is generally a special high-speed storage mechanism that can be either a reserved section of main memory or an independent high-speed storage device. Cache control is also different from caching in ASP.NET or PHP Web development technologies that focus on the pre-generation of DB queries so dynamic pages load faster for browsers.  Read the rest of this entry »

Spend Your Cache Wisely

Spend Your Cache Wisely
Understanding Caching and Cache Control

Cache, not to be confused with “cash”, isn’t something to be spent down at the local market or every time someone loads your page for that matter. Effective cache control involves managing the freshness and frequency of your page loads. The basic idea behind caching is simple. Instead of wasting efforts by re-downloading a resource every time it is needed, keep a local copy, and reuse it for as long as it is still valid. Read the rest of this entry »

Request Reduction - The Cool, but Clunky Method

Yesterday we saw an interesting effort from Digg to address the problem of multiple requests and its effect on page speed.

Recently there has been growing interest in various schemes for request bundling. For example, a way to use data URIs in most browsers was shown here: http://www.hedgerwow.com/360/dhtml/base64-image/code.txt. It is ugly, but mostly works. In the past we have seen other folks use a variety of client and server-side schemes to bring inlined images and other assets to the masses - mostly with little success. That’s too bad. Read the rest of this entry »

Webinar on Web Performance Solutions (Microsoft IIS and More — Archived Version)

Learn how to send less data, less often in this new archived webinar from Port80 Software!

Port80 Software invites you to view a webinar on Web performance solutions… We recently reviewed the Web acceleration market, where Port80 Software solutions like httpZip, ZipEnable, CacheRight, and w3compiler come to play on IIS Web server performance, and how to analyze HTTP compression and Expiry Cache Control solutions with HTTP analysis tools.

Agenda — Web Performance Solutions for Microsoft IIS Web Servers:

- Common Web Performance Challenges
- The Web Acceleration Market
- Analyzing the HTTP Request/Response Cycle
- HTTP Compression
- Expiry Based Cache Control
- Questions and Answers…

Login to Access the Archived Webinar:

- Go to https://www119.livemeeting.com/cc/port80/view?id=Web_Performance_Solutions_1.
- Enter your name, the Recording ID if not already entered (Web_Performance_Solutions_1), bypass the Recording Key (this is not required), and then click View Recording.
- You will be presented with two format options on the next screen; we recommend choosing the second version (”meeting replay), as the first version does not include video.
- Click the Windows Media icon under ‘View’ for the Microsoft Office Live Meeting Replay version, and this will launch the Webinar in Windows Media Player (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/default.mspx).
- If you have any trouble logging into the Webinar, please just ask for help at support@port80software.com.

Thanks for watching, and please let us know if you have a topic for our next webinar event or if we can answer any questions on IIS performance!

Best regards,
Port80 Software