1. Preliminary Considerations

   1. Chapter 1 The Blunt Instruments

      1. Improving Performance from the Browser Side
      2. Improving Performance from the Server Side
      3. Key Recommendations

   2. Chapter 2 Capacity Planning

      1. Capacity Planning Is Preemptive Performance Tuning
      2. Methodology
      3. Questions to Ask
      4. How Much Bandwidth Do You Need?
      5. How Fast a Server Do You Need?
      6. How Much Memory Do You Need?
      7. Architecture Scaling Options
      8. Key Recommendations

   3. Chapter 3 Web Performance Measurement

      1. Parameters of Performance
      2. Benchmark Specifications and Benchmark Tests
      3. Web Performance Measuring Tools and Services
      4. Key Recommendations

   4. Chapter 4 Case Studies

      1. Example Performance Problems, Diagnoses, and Solutions
      2. Methodology for Performance Consulting
      3. Sample Configurations
      4. Key Recommendation

   5. Chapter 5 Principles and Patterns

      1. Principles of Performance Tuning
      2. Patterns of Performance Improvement
      3. Key Recommendations

2. Tuning in Depth

   1. Chapter 6 Client Software

      1. Brief History of the Web Browser
      2. How Browsers Work
      3. Popular Browsers
      4. Browser Speed
      5. Browser Tuning Tips
      6. Figuring Out Why the Browser Is Hanging
      7. Key Recommendations

   2. Chapter 7 Client Operating System

      1. Macintosh
      2. Microsoft Windows
      3. Unix
      4. Key Recommendations

   3. Chapter 8 Client Hardware

      1. PC Hardware
      2. Key Recommendations

   4. Chapter 9 Network Hardware

      1. Lines and Terminators
      2. Intranets
      3. Network Modeling Tools
      4. The Internet
      5. PTTs
      6. Key Recommendations

   5. Chapter 10 Network Protocols

      1. Power and Protocols
      2. The Protocols of the Web
      3. Key Recommendations

   6. Chapter 11 Server Hardware

      1. How Server Hardware Is Different
      2. Network Interface Card
      3. Bus
      4. Memory
      5. CPU
      6. Disk
      7. Key Recommendations

   7. Chapter 12 Server Operating System

      1. Unix and the Origin of the Web
      2. Unix Flavors
      3. Processes and the Kernel
      4. The Filesystem
      5. The Windowing System
      6. Versions and Patches
      7. Configurable OS Parameters
      8. Unix OS Monitoring Tools
      9. Unix Versus NT as the Web Server OS
      10. Key Recommendations

   8. Chapter 13 Server Software

      1. Inside Web Server Software
      2. Common Server Parameters
      3. Servers
      4. Proxy Servers
      5. Firewalls
      6. Key Recommendations

   9. Chapter 14 Content

      1. Size Matters
      2. HTML
      3. Graphics
      4. Audio
      5. Video
      6. Key Recommendations

   10. Chapter 15 CGI Programs

       1. CGI Internals and Performance Problems
       2. General CGI Tips
       3. CGI Language-Specific Optimization Tips
       4. Daemonize It
       5. CGI Database Access Performance
       6. Key Recommendations

   11. Chapter 16 Java

       1. What Java Does for You
       2. Java Compared to Native Code
       3. Why It's Getting Better
       4. Performance Tips: What You Can Do
       5. Key Recommendations

   12. Chapter 17 Databases

       1. Do You Really Need a Relational Database?
       2. Performance Tips
       3. Key Recommendations

3. Appendixes

   1. Appendix A Netscape Enterprise Server 3.0 Tuning

      1. Introduction
      2. Audience
      3. What Is perfdump?
      4. Installing perfdump
      5. Using perfdump Statistics
      6. Platform-Specific Issues
      7. Benchmarking the Netscape Enterprise Server

   2. Appendix B Apache Performance Notes

      1. Introduction
      2. Hardware and Operating System Issues
      3. Runtime Configuration Issues
      4. Negotiation
      5. Process Creation
      6. Compile-Time Configuration Issues
      7. Detailed Analysis of a Trace
      8. The Preforking Model

   3. Appendix C Solaris 2.x—Tuning Your TCP/IP Stack and More

      1. Please Share Your Knowledge
      2. History and Introduction
      3. TCP Connection Initiation
      4. Retransmission-Related Parameters
      5. Path MTU Discovery
      6. Further Advice, Hints, and Remarks
      7. Windows, Buffers, and Watermarks
      8. Tuning Your System
      9. Recommended Patches
      10. Related Books and Software

1. Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The animal on the cover of Web Performance Tuning is a sword-billed hummingbird. There are over 300 species of hummingbird, all found only in the New World. All of these species are easily identifiable by their long, tubular bills and iridescent feathers. The iridescence is a refraction effect that can be seen only when light is shining on the feathers at certain angles. Hummingbirds range in size from the bee hummingbird which, measuring 2 inches long and weighing less than an ounce, is the smallest of all birds, to the great hummingbird, which measures about 8.5 inches long.

Hummingbirds are so named because of the humming noise made by their rapidly moving wings. On average, hummingbirds flap their wings 50 times a second; some species can flap as many as 200 times per second. The wings are flexible at the shoulder and, unlike most birds, they are propelled on the upstroke as well as the downstroke. Because of this flexibility, hummingbirds can hover, fly right or left, backwards, and upside down. Most hummingbirds have tiny feet that are used only for perching, never for walking. Hummingbirds will fly to travel even a couple of inches.

Hummingbirds expend a great deal of energy, and need to feed every 10 minutes or so. They feed on nectar, for sugar, and small insects, for protein. Their long, tapered bills enable them to retrieve nectar from even the deepest flower. Pollen accumulates on the head and neck of hummingbirds while they gather nectar. They then transfer this pollen to other flowers and thus play an important role in plant reproduction.

Hummingbirds appear frequently in Native American legends and mythology, often as representatives of the sun. According to some folk beliefs, they can bring love. Since Europeans first spotted these beautiful, colorful little birds, they have often appeared in the art and literature of the Old World, as well. Edie Freedman designed the cover of this book, using a 19th-century engraving from the Dover Pictorial Archive. The cover layout was produced with QuarkXPress 3.32 using the ITC Garamond font. Whenever possible, our books a durable and flexible lay-flat binding, either RepKover™ or Otabind™. If the page count exceeds the maximum bulk possible for this type of binding, perfect binding is used.

The inside layout was designed by Edie Freedman and modified by Nancy Priest. Text was prepared in FrameMaker by Mike Sierra. The text and heading fonts are ITC Garamond Light and Garamond Book. The illustrations that appear in the book were created in Macromedia Freehand 7.0 by Robert Romano. This colophon was written by Clairemarie Fisher O'Leary.