To the improve the performance of Web applications I have five ideas that will help.

1) Determine your metric. In order to improve performance you have to be able to measure your changes. Pick your metric, or unit of measure, whether it is packet throughput, perceived response time or number of visits by cannibal pygmies.

2) Synchronize the clocks. This may seem obvious. But it is often overlooked. If the web server, proxy server, database server and client PCs have the same time, it is easier to establish a timeline of events. Spikes of activity in a timeline can help identify performance hot spots. Your task will be complicated if you need to compensate for late clocks. Pity that, White Rabbit!

3) Log it. Most web servers have log files. Write your application to log information, too. Log files with timestamps not only aide with debugging, but help measure performance.

4) Establish a baseline. Run an unmodified version of your application. Take a measurement. This is the baseline you can use for future comparisons. Scientists call this a control experiment.

5) Change one item at a time. If you do not limit your changes to a single item and your changes actually hurt performance, it is difficult to determine which item is the problem. Ambitious mega-patches can cost you hours of changes and re-tests.

The topic of improving software performance has and will continue to fill volumes of books. I hope these ideas will help you as you tackle your performance challenge.