Optimizing latency of the HTTP protocol

Optimizing latency of the HTTP protocol

Franz J. Hauck

english Oct. 1994, 4 pages

TR-I4-94-23

[Abstract] [Full Paper (ps,http) , 35 kB] [Full Paper (pdf) , 22 kB]

Abstract: The World-Wide Web (WWW) hypertext system uses TCP/IP connections for network-transparent access to hypertext documents. Documents often contain several inlined images which have to be transferred as individual documents from the server to the client. For each transfer a separate TCP/IP connection has to be established. A significant amount of the total response time is caused by the latency due to the opening procedure of a TCP/IP connection. This paper presents a small extension of the HTTP protocol used by WWW servers and clients. The extension allows the reuse of established connections and, thus, reduces latency. At the same time, the extension is transparent to servers and clients using the standard HTTP protocol.