ThousandEyes provides network intelligence and monitoring of web performance. It offers different test types - HTTP server tests measure server response times, page load tests measure loading of full web pages in a browser, and web transaction tests measure performance of specific user interactions on a site. The tests provide metrics on response times, throughput, errors and performance of individual page components from different network locations and internet providers. The document recommends tips for optimizing web transactions such as adjusting timeouts, configuring start/stop steps, using XPath locators, and inserting wait conditions. It demonstrates creating and running page load, HTTP server and web transaction tests to monitor web performance.

1. Tips for Optimizing Web Performance
Nick Kephart, Sr. Director of Product Marketing

2. 1
About ThousandEyes
Founded by network
experts; strong
investor backing
Relied on for
critical operations by
leading enterprises
Recognized as
an innovative
new approach
ThousandEyes delivers network intelligence into every
network.
42 Fortune 500
5 top 5 software companies
4 top 6 US banks

3. 2
• HTTP request
and response
without a
browser
• Measures errors
by type
‘HTTP Server’ tests
Options for Measuring Web Performance
• One or a series
of page loads
• With user
interactions
(forms, clicks)
‘Web Transaction’
tests
Web Server Transactions
• Page load in a
web browser
• Each object on
the page is
loaded
‘Page Load’ tests
Page Load

4. 3
• HTTP Server
– DNS, Connect, SSL,
Wait, Receive time
– Response time
– Fetch time
• Page Load
– Response time
– DOM load time
– Page load time
• Transaction
– Transaction duration
HTTP, Page Load and Transaction Metrics

5. 4
• Objects that don’t load
(errors)
• Multiple objects per
domain (blocked time)
• Latency by provider
(connection time)
• Server congestion,
app optimization (wait
time)
• Wire size, throughput
(receive time)
The Importance of Individual Objects
receive
blocked
wait

6. 5
• Measure response time and throughput
by domain and provider
• Alert by domain
• Track performance of:
– CDNs
– Ad networks
– Fonts
– Scripts
– Images and media
– Marketing and analytics pixels
– External data sources
Third Party and CDN Performance
Akamai
Omniture,
Event
tracking
Root,
Fonts

7. 6
• Use the ThousandEyes
recorder!
• Get familiar with Selenium
commands1 (release 1.0) and
Xpath syntax2
• Clear your cookies
(incognito)
• Do a dry run using instant
tests
Recording Web Transactions
1 http://www.seleniumhq.org/docs/02_selenium_ide.jsp#commonly-used-selenium-commands
2 http://www.w3schools.com/xpath/xpath_syntax.asp

8. 7
• Transaction Step Time
• Transaction Page Time
New Web Performance Features
• Sleep command
Reports SeleniumNew! New!

9. 8
How ThousandEyes Works
SaaS or external
website
Consumers
Enterprise
Agents
Cloud Agent
2 Test from a consumer or
telecommuter perspective
Branch
Data
Center
1 Test from an internal
employee perspective
Internet

10. 9
 Adjust the timeout and target times
 Timeout is the maximum completion time, target time affects alerts
 Configure the start and stop steps
 Repeat steps if you want to compare cached and uncached results
 Use Xpath where possible
 Will reduce the frequency that your transactions break
 Beware of dynamic IDs from frameworks such as ExtJS
 Use component text, labels or the sequence of the component
 Check that an element is present by inserting a wait condition
 More on the blog:
 https://blog.thousandeyes.com/intro-to-monitoring-synthetic-web-transactions/
 https://blog.thousandeyes.com/advanced-tips-monitoring-synthetic-web-transactions/
Tips for Writing Web Transactions That Work!

11. 10
Demo

12. 11
Creating a Page Load Test
Set the page
URLChoose intervals
(HTTP runs availability and
network tests)
Select alerts
Views that
are included

13. 12
Page Load Results
See response time
and throughput by
domain and
provider
Select an agent to
see the waterfall
Various layers of
network and app
data

14. 13
Component-Specific Alerts
Customize by
components
Duplicate rule

15. 14
Creating a Transaction Test
Choose the base
URL
Import from the
Recorder or your
own Selenium
script
Transaction tests
don’t include network
tests; create an
HTTP Server test as
well
Adjust start and
end

16. 15
Transaction Results
Toggle between
metrics
Timing by step
and page
Select an agent
to see the page
load waterfalls

17. 16
See what you’re missing.
Watch the webinar
www.thousandeyes.com/resources/web-performance-webinar