HP Labs Technical Reports

httperf - A Tool for Measuring Web Server Performance

Mosberger, David; Jin, Tai

HPL-98-61

Keyword(s): web server; performance; measurement tool; HTTP

Abstract: This paper describes httperf, a tool for measuring web server performance. In contrast to benchmarks such as SPECweb or WebStone, the focus of httperf is on understanding web server performance and enabling the performance analysis of new server features or enhancements. The three most important characteristics of httperf are its ability to generate and sustain server overload, support for the HTTP/1.1 protocol, and its extensibility towards new workload generators and statistics collectors. This paper reports on the design and implementation of httperf, but also discusses some of the more subtle issues that arise when attempting to measure web server performance.

11 Pages

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