gzip

Gzip is the most popular and effective compression method. Most modern web browser supports and accepts compressed data transfer. By gziping response time can reduced by 60-70% as compare to normal web page. The end result is faster web site experience for both dial up (they're not dead yet - I've dial up account for backup purpose) and boradband user

In this tutorial I will describe how to install and configure mod_deflate on a lighttpd 1.4 web server on Debian Etch. mod_deflate is included by default in lighttpd 1.5, but not in 1.4 where mod_compress is used instead. The advantage of mod_deflate over mod_compress is that it can compress static and dynamic files (such as PHP files), whereas mod_compress can compress static files only. The lighttpd version coming with Debian Etch is 1.4.13, so we have to patch it to support mod_deflate. mod_deflate allows lighttpd to compress files and deliver them to clients (e.g. browsers) that can handle compressed content which most modern browsers do.