How to reduce latency of data sent through a REST api

Posted by Sid on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by Sid
Published on 2010-03-26T09:39:19Z Indexed on 2010/03/26 9:43 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 147

Filed under:

compression

|

ruby-on-rails

|

latency

|

python

|

network

I have an application which obtains data in JSON format from one of our other servers. The problem I am facing is, there is is significant delay when when requesting for this information. Since a lot of data is passed (approx 1000 records per request where each record is pretty huge) is there a way that compression would help reducing the speed. If so which compression scheme would you recommend.

I read on another thread that they pattern of data also matters a lot on they type of compression that needs to be used. The pattern of data is consistent and resembles the following

 :desc=>some_description
 :url=>some_url
 :content=>some_content
 :score=>some_score
 :more_attributes=>more_data

Can someone recommend a solution to how I could reduce this delay. They delay is approx 6-8 seconds. I'm using Ruby on Rails to develop this application and the server providing the data uses Python for the most part.

© Stack Overflow or respective owner

Related posts about compression

Converting linear colors to SRGB shows banding in FFmpeg

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
When I convert an EXR file sequence with x264 using FFmpeg and convert the colorspace from linear to SRGB (with gamma 0.45454545) I get some heavy banding issues (most visible on a dark gradient). Here is the ffmpeg command I use: C:/ffmpeg.exe -y -i C:/seq_v001.%04d.exr -vf lutrgb=r=gammaval(0… >>> More
IIS7 Compression CSS files only compressed when dynamic compression is enabled

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
If anyone can help it would be appreciated. I would like to enable compression for static files within IIS7 (for the sake of simplicity I'll just refer to static css files for the time being). The problem I'm getting is that css files are only compressed when both dynamic and static compression… >>> More
Built-in GZip/Deflate Compression on IIS 7.x

as seen on West-Wind - Search for 'West-Wind'
IIS 7 improves internal compression functionality dramatically making it much easier than previous versions to take advantage of compression that’s built-in to the Web server. IIS 7 also supports dynamic compression which allows automatic compression of content created in your own applications (ASP… >>> More
Domino Document data compression and design compression

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I was thinking of turning this on some large databases not just mail files - we have around 8 - 10GB of large databases as well as small databases of couple of hundred MB in size. But after reading this post I am not too sure: http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/nd85forum.nsf/4b9931b774db788c85256bf0006b5e6d/1f4e67b569720e54852576c0003cb8ac… >>> More
I need to choose a compression algorithm

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I need to choose a compression algorithm to compress some data. I don't know the type of data I'll be compressing in advance (think of it as kinda like the WinRAR program). I've heard of the following algorithms but I don't know which one I should use. Can anyone post a short list of pros and cons… >>> More

Related posts about ruby-on-rails

Ruby on Rails - How can I start? [closed]

as seen on Programmers - Search for 'Programmers'
I have misconception in understanding the relationship between Ruby language and Ruby on Rails Framework. Because of 'I am an absolute beginner' in web development I have no idea if I have to grasp the fundamentals of Ruby before I go with Ruby on Rails! I also want to ask who is behind both Ruby… >>> More
DES3 decryption in Ruby on Rails

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
My RoR server receives a string, that was encrypted in C++ application using des3 with base64 encoding The cipher object is created so: cipher = OpenSSL::Cipher::Cipher::new("des3") cipher.key = key_str cipher.iv = iv_str key_str and iv_str: are string representations of key and initialization… >>> More
Ruby on rails: Image downloads with Authentication/Authorization/Time outs

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hi Guys, I'm having few doubts on implementing file downloads. I'm creating an app where I use attachment_fu with Amazon s3 to upload files. Things are working pretty well so far on uploading side. Now its the time to start the file downloads. Here is what I need, a logged in user search and browse… >>> More
Ruby on Rails deployment, on "thin" server with lot of attachments

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
A lot of PDFs are stored inside MySQL as a BLOB field for each PDF file. The average file size is 500K each. The Rails app will stream the :binary data as file downloads, where there is a user click on the download link. Assume there is a maximum of 5 users downloading 5 PDFs concurrently, what… >>> More
Apply Behavior Driven Development to Ruby on Rails with Rspec

as seen on Internet.com - Search for 'Internet.com'
Applying the Behavior Driven Development (BDD) methodology to your Rails development takes you beyond traditional Test Driven Development. Learn how to do it with the Ruby-based BDD framework RSpec. >>> More