IMPROVING HTTP LATENCY

The HTTP protocol, as currently used in the World Wide Web, uses a sep arate TCP connection for each file requested. This adds significant an d unnecessary overhead, especially in the number of network round trip s required. We analyze the costs of this approach and propose simple m odifications to HTTP that, while interoperating with unmodified implem entations, avoid the unnecessary network costs. We implemented our mod ifications, and our measurements show that they dramatically reduce la tencies.