Archive for the ‘WebPerformance.Org’ Category

On the weekend, I upgraded the database engine for GrabPERF to Mysql 5.1 and switched the main data table from MyISAM to InnoDB.
The switch to InnoDB was done because of the locking issues that were occurring during long queries, especially when doing ad-hoc analysis. The row-level (versus table-level) locking of InnoDB has removed most of [...]

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Budgets are shrinking. Resources are tight or shrinking. In a recent post, I discussed how ideas that I had been a proponent of for 2-3 years suddenly became extremely valuable to companies during the downturn of 2001-2003.
This downturn is a different beast. This means that you will need more than basic technical smarts to get [...]

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Over the space of two years I have created a series of posts that explore the analytical and statistical concepts that compose the foundation of a solid Web performance strategy.
These mark my attempt to move from a purely technical analysis of providing a solution to the problem at hand. These posts move my approach to [...]

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In the end, it’s all about performance. And when times get hard and budgets get tight, performance should be high on the list of online businesses.
The issue that I see when I work with online firms is that the first item to be on the chopping block is the performance budget. Performance appears to be [...]

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Service Level Agreements. SLAs.
Three of the most contentious words, and most contentious acronym, in the technology sector. Arguments are had, suits are filed, and relationships broken and strained as a result of this single concept.
How can something seemingly simple as setting an agreed upon level of service delivery be so problematic and misunderstood?
The word agreement [...]

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In the Customer Generation and Customer Retention articles of this series, the focus was on Web performance measurements designed to serve an audience outside of your organization. Starting with Business Operations, the focus shifts toward the use of Web performance measurements inside your organization.
Why Business Operations?
When I was initially developing these ideas with my colleague [...]

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In the first part of this series, using Web performance measurements to generate new customers was the topic. This article focuses on using the same data to keep the customers you have, and make them believe in the value of your service.
Proving the Point
Getting a customer is the exciting and glamorous work. Resources are often [...]

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Why GrabPERF?
About four years ago, I had a bright idea that I would like to learn more about how to build and scale a small Web performance measurement platform. I’ve worked in the Web performance industry for nearly a decade now, and this was an experimental platform for me to examine and encounter many of [...]

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Introduction to the Series
This is the first of a four-part series focusing on the reasons why companies measure their Web performance. This perspective is substantially different than ones posited by others in the field as they focus on the meat and potatoes reasons, rather than the sometimes more difficult to imagine future effects that measurement [...]

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The GrabPERF Black Friday Dashboard is done for another year and there were two performance victims that suffered the most at the hands of the onslaught of bargain-hunters in the area of Web performance.
Some caveats that I need to mention about the GrabPERF measurement methodology.

Only the base HTML file of each site is measured.
Only the [...]

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About this blog

Stephen Pierzchala is one of a 10-year veteran of the Web performance field who also writes on topics that interest his non-linear world-view.

Contact

stephen@pierzchala.com

+1 (508) 410-3865