HttpCompressionAgent is a HTTP module for ASP.NET which enables GZip or Deflate compression of Hypertext Transmission Protocol (HTTP) web pages (.aspx) and ASP.NET embedded web resources (WebResource.axd). Users of HttpCompressionAgent will experience a dramatic reduction in web page response times. HttpCompressionAgent usage generally yields a compression ratio of between 75% - 95%. Unlike other 3rd party HTTP compression programs, HttpCompressionAgent also compresses ASP.NET embedded web resources, used more and more for storage of JavaScript and other server control resources.

HttpCompressionAgent has been certified with traditional ASP.NET applications as well as with ASP.NET applications based on the Microsoft Sharepoint Services 3.0 and DotNetNuke Content Management frameworks. The HttpCompressionAgent installation package also includes sample configuration files for both environments.  ASP.NET version 2 is a prerequisite for HttpCompressionAgent runtime execution.

HttpCompressionAgent now supports the IIS7 Integrated Pipeline, enabling HttpCompressionAgent to GZip or Deflate compress HTTP web pages for any web application supported by the IIS7 web server, such as but not limited to native HTML applications (htm, html), classic ASP applications (asp) or PHP applications (php).

All modern Internet browsers support receiving web page content in GZip or Deflate compressed form, however it is the responsibility of a Web Server to interrogate browser capabilities and compress outgoing web page content and related resources using GZip or Deflate compression. GZip and Deflate is natively supported by Microsoft's Internet Information Server (IIS), however in a shared hosting environment most Internet Service Providers (ISPs) do not expose usage of the IIS native compression support. HttpCompressionAgent provides HTTP compression at the ASP.NET application level, and HttpCompressionAgent also exposes a number of features relating to its implementation. HttpCompressionAgent features include:

• Compression of Web Pages (.aspx) and Embedded Web Resources (WebResource.axd)
• Application level compression support definable within web.config
• GZip compression using .NET System.IO.Compression.GZipStream library
• Deflate compression using .NET System.IO.Compression.DeflateStream library
• Web page (.aspx) exclusion capability, with URL exclusions or MIME type (content type) exclusions definable in local CONFIG file
• Embedded Web Resource (WebResource.axd) exclusion capability, with exclusions (by Assembly Name or Resource Name) or MIME type (content type) exclusions definable in local CONFIG file
• Blocking of Embedded Web Resources from unauthorized access based on URL Referrer, thus protecting intellectual property
• A comprehensive tracing facility is included showing web pages and/or web resources being compressed and related compression ratios, an excellent tool for profiling an application's underlying response times.
• Certified with DotNetNuke content management framework
• Certified with Microsoft Sharepoint Services 3.0 and Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server (MOSS) 2007
• Certified with all modern browsers, including Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE), Opera and Apple Safari

HttpCompressionAgent options are defined within a web.config custom configuration section as illustrated below:

In our thorough testing of HttpCompressionAgent, all of our representative ASP.NET web pages (.aspx) and Embedded Web Resources (WebResource.axd) were successfully compressed, however included within HttpCompressionAgent is an exclusion facility. This facility provides the user with a means to exclude specific web pages or web resources from compression.  These exclusions are also defined within the web.config  custom configuration section.

HttpCompressionAgent provides a comprehensive trace facility, which traces what web pages (.aspx) and embedded web resources (WebResource.axd) are being compressed and what compression library (GZip or Deflate) is being used. The trace facility also provides valuable compression ratio percentages.   The trace facility output is illustrated below:

ASP.NET version 2 is a prerequisite for HttpCompressionAgent runtime execution.  Private assembly executable and full product documentation included (source code not included).