Re: When to hand XSLT off to a specialized box (was: h

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Subject: Re: When to hand XSLT off to a specialized box (was: hardwarexml / xslt)
From: Jeff Kenton <jkenton@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 18:38:43 -0400

Bill Humphries wrote:

So here's a question for the Datapower/Sarvega/XSLT-in-box folks:

At what point does it become cost-effective to consider such a solution?

- Running an intranet where the data is XML and you're using XSLT for presentation. - Running a site where not only the local data is in xml, but you're handling feeds in RSS, ICE, and NewsML. - Running a busy news site (NYT, /., BuffyRumors)? - An eCommerce/enterprise application using WebServices to bridge all the components (SAP,Credit Card processing, etc.)?

It'd be good to have a sense of when to let go of software and embrace the black box in the server farm.

There are two parts to the answer:

First, when you need to buy multiple servers to handle your XSLT processing. Dozens of servers are a lot more expensive than a single XML accelerator.

Second, when performance is unacceptable, and only a hardware solution gives the throughput/latency you require. Clearly, what you're willing to spend on performance depends on the value of your application.

Third, when you want the ease of use and integration of multiple features that a good hardware solution provides.

Regarding your specific examples, the basic concern is how much processing you are doing:

>     - Running an intranet where the data is XML and you're using XSLT
>       for presentation.

Server side XSLT can be a bottleneck for intranets or enterprise portals. When you have a lot of users, the hardware solution is warranted. A simple example -- if your transforms take 100 milliseconds in software, you may only be able to support 10 concurrent transactions. How many users do you have? How complex are your transactions?

>     - Running a site where not only the local data is in xml, but you're
>       handling feeds in RSS, ICE, and NewsML.

This is another likely candidate. Again, it depends on the number of updates you receive.

> - Running a busy news site (NYT, /., BuffyRumors)?

BufferRumors?

>     - An eCommerce/enterprise application using WebServices to bridge
>       all the components (SAP,Credit Card processing, etc.)?

On the backend, you often have the same issues. Generally, the transforms are more complex here, but there are fewer of them.

Overall, the fact that XSLT is a standard means that you can migrate your applications into hardware as your requirements increase. Not every app has a performance problem, but if yours does, you'll be glad there's an option.


--
--------------------------
Jeff Kenton
Datapower Technology, Inc.

XSL-List info and archive: http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list

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