Dynamic Web Pages Prepared for Takeoff

Computerworld - You won't find any mention of FineGround Networks Inc. or caching technology sandwiched between the articles about Cameron Diaz or Madrid in Sky, Delta Air Lines Inc.'s in-flight magazine. But without FineGround's ability to speed up the delivery of dynamic Web page content, your trip might lack food, beverages or a clean cabin.

Atlanta-based E-Gatematrix LLC (a subsidiary of Zurich-based Swissair Group) provides catering and flight services to all Delta flights using 30 subcontractors located throughout the route structure of Atlanta-based Delta.

But because the information changes constantly—E-Gatematrix provides 54,000 meals a day at 180 domestic catering locations—the online system has to quickly serve up new data on dynamic Web pages without compromising download times. In some cases, users might scroll through 10 to 15 screens of data for a day's worth of flights to find that only two items have changed on each page. "Try doing that with less than a 56K connection," says Robert Eads, CIO and executive vice president at E-Gatematrix.

The Web Condensed

Campbell, Calif.-based FineGround's Condenser software uses what the company calls delta optimization technology to transmit to an end user's browser only the Web-page data that has changed since the previous view. The browser has the rest of the page information in its local cache. But the technology doesn't require a browser plug-in or other software on the client. Condenser, which runs on Linux or Solaris servers, includes techniques for optimizing graphics and other embedded objects. It also accelerates Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) transactions by encrypting and transmitting only changed elements. And a connection-pooling feature allows users to manage connections to various application servers and related data via a browser interface.

"When the user requests a page, the Condenser identifies the user's browser type and applies those technologies supported by the browser," says Nat Kausik, president and CEO of FineGround. "A user at a desktop PC might realize the benefit of one set of FineGround technologies designed for a full-blown browser, while a user on a Pocket PC will see a different set of FineGround interfaces because of the smaller footprint."

"The types of content that folks are using on their Web sites has changed," says Greg Howard, an analyst at The HTRC Group LLC in San Andreas, Calif. In a September 2000 HTRC study, 87% of 100 Web site decision-makers said their companies were using dynamic content on their sites. Howard says that figure held firm in a July 2001 survey of 100 Web site decision-makers.

But the percentage of companies that said they're adopting secure-content technologies—which typically generate dynamic or personalized content—rose from 72% in 2000 to 76% in 2001, and the percentage using personalized content from XML-based applications jumped from 27% to 67%. Both content types require pages to be refreshed regularly. Howard says FineGround's technology can speed access to such pages because it optimizes based on what's already in the user's cache.