Comparing HTTP/3 vs. HTTP/2 Performance (2020)
Cloudflare has launched HTTP/3, enhancing internet performance with UDP, reducing head-of-line blocking, and offering 0-RTT support. Over 113,000 zones have activated it, showing mixed real-world performance results.
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Cloudflare has introduced support for HTTP/3, the successor to HTTP/2, which aims to enhance internet performance. As of now, over 113,000 zones have activated HTTP/3, with experimental support available in browsers like Google Chrome, Firefox, and others. HTTP/3 is based on UDP, which allows for improved performance by reducing head-of-line blocking issues present in HTTP/2's TCP connections. This means that if a packet is lost, only the affected stream is interrupted, allowing others to continue. Additionally, HTTP/3 features 0-RTT support, enabling faster connection startups by eliminating the need for a full TLS handshake. Benchmark tests indicate that HTTP/3 performs better than HTTP/2 in terms of time to first byte (TTFB), averaging 176ms compared to 201ms for HTTP/2. However, performance can vary based on factors like congestion control algorithms. In real-world tests, HTTP/3 showed slightly slower performance than HTTP/2, likely due to differences in congestion algorithms used. Cloudflare continues to support the latest drafts of HTTP/3 and is optimistic about its future, anticipating broader browser support as the standard finalizes.
- HTTP/3 is designed to improve performance over HTTP/2 by using UDP instead of TCP.
- It reduces head-of-line blocking and offers faster connection startups with 0-RTT support.
- Benchmark tests show HTTP/3 has a 12.4% improvement in time to first byte compared to HTTP/2.
- Real-world performance tests indicate HTTP/3 may be slightly slower than HTTP/2 due to different congestion control algorithms.
- Cloudflare is committed to supporting HTTP/3 as it evolves and gains wider adoption.
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9 comments443 milliseconds!! When typical user latency is sub 50 milliseconds, requiring 443 milliseconds to get a lightweight page displayed on the screen is terrible.
Users perceive 100 milliseconds as near-instant, and that ought to be the target. With 50 milliseconds of network latency, and 0-rtt support, that gives 50 milliseconds for server and client processing+rendering. Ought to be very do-able.
The fact it has not been done really is a failure of software engineering as an industry - we always favour more layers of abstraction over perfecting the user experience.
It is one that could be fixed by developers if only the correct flags were set during compilation of the HTTP/3 libs and during their linking to the relevant browsers. But no one seems to care about human use cases. It's corporate security uber alles.
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