Designing for and Managing
Performance in the New
Frontier of Rich Internet
Applications
Ben Rushlo
Director, Web Performance Consulting
©2009 Keynote Systems, Inc. Keynote & Client Confidential.

Agenda
Performance Management Is Changing
Performance Management Best Practices
Web 2.0 Performance Challenges
Real-Time Testing from the Cloud
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Performance Management
Is Changing
©2009 Keynote Systems, Inc. Keynote & Client Confidential.

Performance Management Is Changing
End-User Experience The Internet
Application Performance
no longer just depends is influenced technologies used
on: are not only:
not just by:
HTML,CSS,HTTP
Content Delivery Connection Speed
JavaScript, Servlets
But More But More But More
Rich Interactive Application AJAX, Video, SOA,
Experiences Design XML, Flash
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The Browser as a “Platform”
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Complexity is Increasing
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Complexity is Increasing
Domains
1 -2 5-10
Third Party Content
1-2 requests per page 10 30 requests per page
Page Sizes
100-300K 300K – 2MB
Languages
HTML, limited JS and CSS Multiple JS and CSS per page (XML,
Flash, Flex etc)
Hosting
Single location Hybrid (Cloud)
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Working Slide
The Application Lives Everywhere
The “Cloud” – Web services, distributed data
centers/infrastructure, content delivery network etc
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The Application Life Cycle On “Red Bull”
Quality
Analysis
IT
Operations
Web
Development
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Increased User Expectations
The Internet has become a utility
Always on, always responsive
The competition is raising the bar
Even if it is not your direct competition
8s 4s 2s ?
The Web 2.0 model changes expectations
Users are not simply “viewing content”, instead they are interacting,
using applications
Increases expectations for “site” to perform as a desktop app
1s or less might become the new rule
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Performance Management
Best Practices
©2009 Keynote Systems, Inc. Keynote & Client Confidential.

Performance Management Best Practices
Test at every stage in
application lifecycle –
build with the user in
mind
Test from the cloud –
where your users are
Test with a real browser
– what your users use
Capture the right
metrics – what impacts
your user
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Key Metrics – Pre Launch
Average download times
Per element performance
Client side processing Quality
Analysis
Variability – over geography
IT
Web service performance Operations
Web
Pre render vs. render time Development
Network vs. Application vs. Content
Page Construction
There no longer is a way to approximate technical
quality from inside the data center
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Key Metrics – In Production
Performance
-average versus target Quality
Analysis
Availability
– errors and outages IT
Operations
Variability Web
Development
– throughout day and
overall
Third-Party Quality
Trends and Events
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Total Site Quality Framework
Health Report
Tip: Avoid Pet Metrics
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Web 2.0 Performance
Challenges
©2009 Keynote Systems, Inc. Keynote & Client Confidential.

IE 7.0
Challenge 1 – Java Script
Java Script
Use, Placement
and Browser
Threading
Javascript
files load
one file at a
time
None of these
images were
downloaded to the
browser until 2.4
seconds into a 2.8
second page load
Tip: Minimize, Combine, Move Down External JS
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Download Time
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
UPS
Live
Travelocity
Wikipedia
Sprint
HotJobs
Career Builder
Disney
Fidelity
Yellow Pages
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Google
AT&T
Orbitz
Merrill Lynch
MSN
eBay
Ask
40 Typical Home Pages
CNN
Expedia
Time On Netw ork
AOL
Bank Of America
Symantic
Facebook
Ticketmaster
NY Times
client side processing
Apple
Hewlett-Packard
Client Side Processing
Amazon
CBS Sportsline
Verizon
Yahoo
USA Today
Dell
Walmart
Challenge 2 – Client Side Processing
Priceline.com
MSNBC
Weather.com
Charles Schwab
Half of the Home Pages show over 20% of their total download in
FedEx
Monster
18

Flash Initialization
Client Side Processing is Typically Ignored By Performance
Management
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JS and CSS Rendering
Tip: Identify and Reduce Client Side Processing
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Challenge 3 – Third Party Quality
Third Party Call Blocking
Visual Content
Tip: Place Third Party Content in Footer and Track Quality
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Challenge 4 – Web Service Performance
Tip: Establish SLAs with Web Services
and Measure Directly
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Challenge 5 – Flash Performance
Flash Elements Download
Quickly, Time on Client
Significant
Tip: Balance Size with Number of SWF Files
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Don’t Forget The Basics
Reduce Round Trips
CSS Sprites
HTTP Keep Alive
Comprehensive Caching Strategy
Improve Third Party Quality
SLA
Place Smartly
Move Content Closer
Content Delivery Networks
Watch Content Size
Enforce Standards
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Don’t Forget The Basics
Measure, Measure and Measure
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How to reach me
Ben Rushlo
(623) 547-7068
ben.rushlo@keynote.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/benrushlo
©2009 Keynote Systems, Inc. Keynote & Client Confidential.
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