Method and apparatus for measuring web site performance

• US 7,870,254 B2
• Filed: 03/26/2009
• Issued: 01/11/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Allan, Ron C.
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, THANH T
• Application Number:
  US12/411,532
• Publication Number:
  US 20090204669A1
• Time in Patent Office: 656 Days
• Field of Search: 709/224, 715/735, 345/735, 345/745
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/173 using an interconnection network, e.g. matrix, shuffle, pyramid, star, snowflake

Abstract

A web site is provisioned with a proxy that receives a page request intended for the server and records a first time. The page request is then forwarded to the server for response. The response stream generated by the server is intercepted at the proxy at a second time. As the stream is forwarded to the requesting client, the proxy inserts a page script that, upon execution at the client, calculates a page render time. This time is determined by calculating the difference between a third time (the time at which the page script begins execution at the client) and a fourth time (a time at which the page rendering is complete). Upon completion of the page rendering, the script opens a connection back to the server and returns a packet that includes the page render time. This packet is received at a fifth time. A transaction record is then built by the proxy using the timestamp data.

Claims

1. A method of monitoring a transaction between a client and a server in a computer network, comprising:

at a first server time, receiving a client request directed to the server and forwarding the client request for service;

at a second server time, inserting a script into a server response stream;

returning the server response stream including the script in response to the client request;

at a third server time, receiving a packet from the client that includes a page render time generated by execution of the script at the client; and

generating a transaction record that includes given performance metric data, wherein the performance metric data includes a server response time calculated by subtracting the first server time from the second server time.

2. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the performance metric data includes the page render time.

3. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the performance metric data includes an approximate time spent on the computer network.

4. The method as described in claim 1 further including the step of storing in the transaction record information about the page requested.

5. The method as described in claim 1 further including the step of storing in the transaction record information about a protocol method used in the page request.

6. The method as described in claim 1 further including the step of issuing to the client a given status response upon receipt of the value.

7. A method of monitoring a transaction between a client and a server in a computer network, comprising:

at a proxy, receiving a page request intended for the server and recording a first time;

calculating a request service time;

as a response stream is passed through the proxy, recording a second time and inserting a page script into the response stream that, upon execution at the client, generates a page render time;

receiving a packet from the client and recording a third time, wherein the packet includes the page render time generated by executing the page script at the client;

generating an approximate network time by subtracting the page render time from a value generated by a difference between the second time and the third time; and

calculating an estimated total round trip time using the request service time and the page render time.

8. A method of monitoring a transaction between a client and a server in a computer network, comprising:

upon receipt of a page from the server, executing a script to generate a value identifying a page render time, wherein the value is generated by;

(i) at a first time, reading the script, (ii) determining when the page has been rendered, (iii) when the page has been rendered, identifying a second time, and (iv) subtracting the first time from the second time; and

upon completion of the page download, and without user input, returning the valve to a proxy, wherein the value is returned to the proxy by having the script open a connection to the proxy.

9. A method operative within a firewall at a web server, comprising:

upon receipt of a page request, recording a first time T1 and forwarding the page request to the server;

upon receipt of a response stream from the server, recording a second time T2;

inserting a script into a response stream;

forwarding the response stream together with the script back to the client;

using the script to calculate a page render time at the client by determining a difference between a fourth time T4 and a third time T3; and

upon receipt of a given packet, recording a fifth time T5; and

saving in a transaction record given performance metrics calculated from the times T1−

T5, wherein the given performance metrics include total round trip time calculated as T5−

T1.

10. The method as described in claim 9 wherein the given performance metrics include request service time calculated as T2−

T1.

11. The method as described in claim 9 wherein the given performance metrics include client page render time calculated as T4−

T3.

12. A method of augmenting a response stream generated by a server in response to a client request, comprising:

receiving a page request intended for the server and recording a first time;

recording a second time and inserting a script into the response stream that, upon execution at a client, (a) calculates a page render time, (b) opens a connection back to the server, and (c) returns the page render time to the server without user input;

receiving a packet from the client and recording a third time, wherein the packet includes the page render time generated by executing the script at the client;

generating an approximate network time by subtracting the page render time from a value generated by a difference between the second time and the third time; and

generating a transaction record that includes given performance metric data, wherein the performance metric data includes a server response time calculated by subtracting the first time from the second time.

13. A computer program product in a non-transitory computer useable storage medium, comprising:

code for receiving a client request directed to a server, recording a first time, and forwarding the client request for service;

code for receiving a response stream from the server, recording a second time, and inserting a script into a server response stream as the stream is served back to the client;

code for receiving a packet from the client, recording a third time, and generating a transaction record, wherein the packet includes a page render time generated by executing the script on the client; and

code for generating an approximate network time by subtracting the page render time from a value generated by a difference between the second time and the third time.

14. The computer program product as described in claim 13 further including code for generating a request service time as a difference between the first time and the second time.

15. In a web site having a server data processing system comprising a data processor, and a data store operably coupled to the server data processing system, the improvement comprising:

a proxy comprising;

code for receiving a client request directed to the server data processing system, recording a first time, and forwarding the client request to the server data processing system for service;

code for receiving a response stream from the server data processing system, recording a second time, and inserting a script into a server response stream as the stream is served back to the client;

code for receiving a packet from the client, recording a third time, and generating a transaction record, wherein the packet includes a page render time generated by executing the script on the client; and

code for generating an approximate network time by subtracting the page render time from a value generated by a difference between the second time and the third time.

16. In the web site as described in claim 15 wherein the script generates a page render time value and returns the value to the proxy.

17. In the web site as described in claim 15 further including a log file for storing the transaction record.