[About HTTP 1.1, Joe Touch said:]
>> Not quite as much as planned. Although the connection is reused,
>> the window is not just be 'left open' in the meantime.
>>
>> When the source of data goes idle, some versions of TCP
>> slam the window shut (slow start restart after idle).
Good point. But isn't this an implementation issue more than a protocol
design issue? I.e., the reason the source goes idle is because it
hasn't been given anything else to do yet, probably because the browser
is still parsing the HTML it just got in the initial GET of this TCP
connection.
Perhaps we can make a recommendation here to HTTP 1.1 client
implementers. It would be: if you possibly can, parse the HTML of a
page as you get it, and issue the requests for the embedded graphics and
other links at the earliest possible opportunity. If done right, that
could keep the window from slamming shut.
This is true of other protocols built on top of TCP too, of course.
This should be mentioned in the draft, I assume that is what the (as yet
not fleshed out) section 6.6.1 is for.
--Tim Farley
XcelleNet, Inc.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Feb 14 2000 - 16:14:29 EST