Client-Side Framework for Automated Evaluation of Mechanisms to Improve HTTP Performance

The proliferation of sophisticated web technologies requires efficient tools to evaluate the performance of HTTP traffic under various conditions. In this paper, we present HTTP-Automated Evaluation (HTTP-AE) as a multi-user client-side framework for evaluating HTTP performance. The framework can be used to evaluate mechanisms, which improve HTTP performance. We present several case studies in which HTTP-AE is used to evaluate three HTTP acceleration mechanisms deployed in an emulated satellite system. These case studies show that the framework can be used to test different design aspects that may affect HTTP performance. Hence, by using the proposed framework, one can determine the advantages and limitations of different network design configurations.