Parallel

mikeytown2 - August 13, 2009 - 23:39

Allows for parallel downloading of the various resources inside your html document. See http://groups.drupal.org/node/25271 for motive on why this module was created. Please report all bugs you encounter.

Setup:

Create 3 new subdomains that point to your webroot directory. If your webpage is
example.com then create
cdn1.example.com
cdn2.example.com
cdn3.example.com
Enable this module
Go to performance page and fill in the parallel textboxes with the newly created subdomains. Make sure it's in the format //cdn1.example.com as that will work with http & https. Leave blank to not "parallel" that html element.
Sit back and watch your website load quicker since your browser is downloading in parallel.

Verify:

Install firebug & select the network tab. http://getfirebug.com/net.html
For the skeptics, read this note from Google, or this one from Yahoo.

Be aware that this is not a cure all like boost is; depending on your html structure, server and web browser it may not help but actually hurt performance; YMMV (your mileage may vary). Verification is important. If this helps/hurts your site, please create an issue describing your setup so that others may benefit.

Note:

This module is similar to the CDN integration module in that it allows you to use multiple domains to serve static files. However, it's more limited, but also easier to install depending on your skills (the Parallel module doesn't require a Drupal core patch). Also, the Parallel module should not be used with a real CDN: it can not automatically upload files to the CDN. Finally, the Parallel module only supports JavaScript, images & CSS at this time. It can not change the references inside the CSS/JS files nor change the references to uploaded files (that are not js/css/img), whereas the CDN integration module can; that's what the patch is for, the CDN module is an all encompassing solution.