The performance improvements in the latest browsers (Internet Explorer 8.0 and Firefox 3.5) have been eagerly awaited for many months…though they come at a price. Improved standards compliance, improved Javascript performance and better network performance are showing significant progress in lowering page rendering times. But one of the improvements – opening more simultaneous connections to a single server, can have a negative impact on server performance, depending on the configuration and utilization of the server. Our tests on Apache found that the new browsers can reduce the total capacity of the server by up to 60% – when measured as the number of users that can be serviced while maintaining the performance goals for the site.
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