HTTP/2 delivery of content

Adobe is excited to announce the availability of HTTP/2 delivery of content with the overall benefit of improved performance.

NOTE

This feature requires that you use the out-of-the-box CDN that is bundled with Adobe Experience Manager Dynamic Media. Any other custom CDN is not supported with this feature.

What is HTTP/2?

HTTP/2 improves the way browsers and servers communicate, allowing for faster transfer of information while reducing the amount of processing power that is needed.

The following website describes HTTP/2 and its benefits in a brief and simple manner:

What you must know about HTTP/2

What are the key benefits of moving to HTTP/2 for content delivery?

Performance improvement can vary widely. It is based on many factors such as your website’s code, how you use Dynamic Media, the consumer’s device, screen, and location.

Adobe’s own testing yielded the following results:

For images, response time improved 7%-28% depending on device and browser. The most notable performance gains were on iOS devices.
For viewers, load time performance improved up 15%.

The following demonstration illustrates the difference between HTTP/1 versus HTTP/2 loading:

https://http2.akamai.com/demo

Am I eligible to switch over to HTTP/2?

To use HTTP/2, you must meet the following requirements:

Use secure HTTPS for your rich media requests.
Use the Adobe-bundled CDN (content delivery network) as part of your Dynamic Media license.
Use a dedicated (non- company-h.assetsadobe#.com) domain.

If you already have a dedicated domain, you can opt in by way of Adobe Customer Support.

If you do not have a dedicated domain, Adobe plans to schedule your transition to HTTP/2 in 2018.

What is the process for enabling HTTP/2 for my Dynamic Media account?

You initiate the request to switch over to HTTP/2; it is not automatically done for you.

To switch over to HTTP/2, initiate an Adobe Customer Support request. See Open a support ticket.
1. Provide the following information in your support request:
  1. Primary contact name, email, phone.
  2. All domains to be transitioned over to HTTP/2.
  3. Verify you use secure HTTPS for rich media requests.
  4. Verify you use the CDN through Adobe and are not managed with a direct relationship.
  5. Verify you use a dedicated domain. If you use Dynamic Media, then you use a dedicated domain.
2. Customer Support adds you to the HTTP/2 customer waitlist based in the order in which requests were submitted.
3. When Adobe is ready to handle your request, Customer Support contacts you to coordinate the transition and set a target date.
4. You are notified after completion and can verify successful transition over to HTTP2.
  
  Because the browser does not state this fact, it is necessary to download an extension.
  
  For Firefox and Chrome, there is an extension called “HTTP/2 and SPDY Indicator”. Browsers only support http/2 securely, so it is necessary to call a URL with https to verify. If http/2 is supported, it is indicated by the extension in the form of a blue Flash symbol, and a header “X-Firefox-Spdy” : “h2”.

When can I expect to be transitioned over to HTTP/2?

Requests are processed in the order in which they are received by Customer Support.

NOTE

There can be a long lead time because the transition to HTTP/2 involves clearing the cache. Therefore, only a few customer transitions can be handled at a time.

What are the risks with moving to HTTP/2?

The transition to HTTP/2 clears out your cache at the CDN because it involves moving to a new CDN configuration.

The non-cached content directly hits Adobe’s origin servers until the cache is rebuilt again. As such, Adobe plans to handle a few customer transitions at a time so that acceptable performance is maintained when pulling requests from the origin.

How can you verify whether a URL or website is activated with HTTP/2?

Because the browser does not state this fact, it is necessary to download an extension.

For Firefox and Chrome, there is an extension called “HTTP/2 and SPDY Indicator”. Browsers only support http/2 securely, so it is necessary to call a URL with https to verify. If http/2 is supported, it is indicated by the extension in the form of a blue Flash symbol, and a header X-Firefox-Spdy : h2.