Performance Comparison between Http2 and Http1.1

Performance Comparison between Http2 and Http1.1

Http 1.1 and Http 2 are the two most technical terms that any webmaster or SEO might get confuse or don’t understand the difference between these two terms. Though Http 1.1 and Http 2 stand for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol, the difference comes when numbers like 1 and 2 connect with them. This becomes the main reason to differentiate between Http 1.1 and Http 2. If you also want to know what makes Http 1.1 different from Http 2 or vice versa and which protocol is best for your website then this article is for you.

This article is a complete guide providing you the complete analysis on the performance comparison between Http 1.1 and Http 2.

So let’s jump in and scratch from the basics first.

Concepts of Http 1.1 and Http 2. Let’s understand the two protocols one by one.

What is Http 1.1?

Http 1.1 version was introduced in 1997. The is the major version of HTTP network protocol used by the World Wide Web. Http is a top level application protocol that exchanges information between a client computer and a local and remote web server.  This version introduces many performance enhancements like caching mechanism, transfer encoding, keepalive connections, byte range requests, and request pipelining. This protocol worked for 15 years almost.  

Let me tell you that this version removed many ambiguities found in Http 1.0 version.

Key features of Http 1.1

  • Http 1.1 provided support for chunk transfer that allowed streaming of content.
  • Cache control to specify policies in both requests and responses
  • The upgrade header indicates a preference from the client to switch to a more preferred protocol.
  • Content negotiation

The Http 1.1 had no requirement when Http 2 version launched in 2015.

What is Http 2?

Http 2 is the new version of HTTP 1.1. The protocol introduced back in February 2015 by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Http working group. The newish protocol transport data to drastically speed up the web and can help boost your Search Engine Optimization. It uses new technologies to provide full multiplexing connections. I would say Http 2 is much needed upgrade to the Http protocol; it manages the communication between browsers and web servers. Moreover, Http 2 provides a dramatic speed boost for the website.

Key features of Http 2

  • Http 2 version brings the concept of multiplexing to alternate the requests and responses without head-of-line blocking and does so over a single TCP connection.
  • Http 2 server also pushes and request proactively into client caches In lieu of waiting for a new request for each resource.
  • Package blocking
  • Binary protocols
  • High-level compatibility with Http 1.1 such as methods, URLs, status codes, and header fields.

Now look the performance comparison between Http 1.1 and Http 2.

Major performance comparison between Http 1.1 and Http 2

#Web traffic

Http 1.1 – It provides faster delivery of web pages and reduces web traffic if you compare it to Http 1.0. However, there is an increased risk of network congestion.

Http 2 – The Http 2 version utilizes multiplexing and server pushes to effectively reduce the page load time by a greater margin along with being sensitive to network delays.

#Performance optimization

Http 1.1 – Some of the optimizations used is Http 1.1 version are sprinting, inlining, domain shrading, and concatenating.

Http 2 – This protocol version removes the need for unnecessary optimization hacks.

#Status code

Http 1.1 – This protocol introduces a warning header field to carry additional information about the status of a message. It can define 24 status codes, error reporting is quicker and more efficient.

Http 2 – It brings the fundamental semantics of HTTP like headers, and status code remains the same.

#Authentication mechanism

Http 1.1 – Protocol Http 1.1 is much secured than Http 1.0 because it uses digest authentication and NTLM authentication.

Http 2.2 – The security concern in Http 2 version is also good and almost same as Http 1.1. Rather Http 2 is better equipped to deal with security threats because of the new features it brings. For example, new TLS feature like connection error of type inadequate security.

#Security

Http 1.1 – In this version, SSL or secure sockets layer is not required but recommended. Digest authentication is an improvement over Http 1.0 which is now being used in Http 1.1. Moreover, Https uses SSL/TLS for secure encrypted communication.

Http 2 – In Http 2 protocol, security is not at all recommended. It is because the security is encrypted since all almost all clients demand traffic to be encrypted. It also has minimum standards and minimum key size for encryption.

The bottom line

So guys, this was all about Http 1.1 and Http 2 performance comparison. I tried to highlight every major point comparing between Http 1.1 and Http 2. I hope everything is clear to you now. At last, I want to tell you that Http 2 is securer than Http 1.1. If you have still not moved to Http 2 then you should move, right away. After applying Http 2 to your website, you will get to see high performance of your site and improved user-experience.

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