[syslinux] Opinion wanted: metadata in HTTP requests (updated)

Andrew Stuart andrew at shopcusa.com
Tue Apr 26 12:51:23 PDT 2011


On 4/26/2011 9:44 AM, H. Peter Anvin wrote:
> On 04/26/2011 06:57 AM, John Rouillard wrote:
>>
>> Is there a difference in the amount of data that can be sent via these
>> mechanisms? Using POST is the usual workaround when the get string is
>> too large and code "414 Request-URI Too Long" is returned.
>>
>
> Yes, but if we have to go to POST we really have lost.
>
>>  From rfc 2109 the browser should support:
>>
>>    * at least 300 cookies
>>
>>    * at least 4096 bytes per cookie (as measured by the size of the
>>      characters that comprise the cookie non-terminal in the syntax
>>      description of the Set-Cookie header)
>>
>>    * at least 20 cookies per unique host or domain name
>>
>> so the server should be able to handle at least that.
>>
>> So I think the cookie mechanism may be a better choice depending on
>> how much data you expect to send.
>>
>
> The only limit there which we are even remotely in the vicinity of is
> the 20-cookie per "unique host or domain name" -- a.k.a. server.  The
> current setup allows up to 32, but it's still the same category.
>
> The problem is that this data gets sent for each and every request,
> which means that it may take multiple packets to even get the connection
> going... every time.
>
> 	-hpa
>
>

Hmm, Not my area of expertise, and I don't know what level of overhead 
it would add, but wouldn't pipelining handle this in a suitable fashion? 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_pipelining

In any case, I would think the problem you present is a major issue. 
It's still going to outperform tftp I would think. However, the proposed 
http://example.com/something?? may cause problems for a lot of proxy 
servers I would imagine.

I for one am experimenting with an internet based ipxe/pxelinux setup, 
using squid at two locations to cache the content, as opposed to my 
existing tftp/rsync/etc setup to maintain multiple sites.

-- 
Andrew Stuart
ComputersUSA!
1520C Kirker Pass Rd.
Clayton, CA 94517
(925) 672-9989
(925) 672-8796
http://www.shopcusa.com/




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