Re: an article... (was: Re: Standard?)

Ian Graham (ianweb@smaug.java.utoronto.ca)
Fri, 29 Nov 1996 15:07:12 -0500 (EST)


Whether or not this is causes problems depends on how elegantly the
approach is implemented. For example, if a page contains only one link,
then prefetching this link will have negligible effect on bandwidth,
as the user is in any event likely to access this link. Simililary, if
the agent prefetches only those links that are physically adjacent the
retrieved link (i.e., near the top of the document, or near the
named anchor), if there is a reasonable number set for prefetching
(say, less than 8), and there is a built-in delay between prefetching
to reduce load bursrint, then the increased demand should not be too
onerous. Many pages already download a dozen or more inline images,
which is a far greater burden on the network than downloading a few
text files.

Of course, if the prefetcher retrieves links plus all the inline images/
applets/embeds/etc for that link, then it could be a nightmare.

Ian

--
Ian Graham ........................................ ian.graham@utoronto.ca
Information Commons                                      Tel: 416-978-4548
University of Toronto                                    Fax: 416-978-7705
 
> I am wondering if anyone has read the article:
> www.yahoo.com/headlines/961127/entertainment/stories/online_livewire_1.html
>   
> They are talking about both NetJet and Blaze. Here is a quote from 
> that article:
> 
>  "When someone is reading a Web page, the preloaded browsing feature
>   in both programs scans the page for hot links to related pages, then
>   downloads those pages to cache memory so they'll load faster if the
>   user decides to view them."
> 
> Now, if this becomes an enhanced feature for web-browsers, then
> I suspect that rogue-robots will not be the worst of our problems ...
> Web-users will.
> 
> gregf.
> -- 
> Greg Fenton              ||    Email: gregf@mks.com
> Professional Services    ||    Phone: +1-519-883-3265
> MKS Inc.                 ||      Web: http://www.mks.com/
> ---------------------------------------------------------
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