TMeter :: Host Header Logging

Host Header Logging

This allows recording into a plaintext file or into a database the host names obtained by analyzing a content of HTTP request and an amount of transferred bytes during HTTP session. What is a difference between Host Header Logging in TMeter and analyzing log files of a proxy server? You will find the answer in the table below.

	Analyzing the log files	Host Header Logging
Is the proxy server required?	Yes	No. There are cases when it is not possible to install proxy server.
Is overhead of HTTP taken into account?	No.	It is taken into account: - header of HTTP reply - headers of IP and TCP - retries of TCP segments without acknowledgement.
What size of the file is accounted in case of using gzip-encoding (compressing "on the fly" web pages)?	The size on the disk.	Effective size of transferring the file (can be in 2-4 times less when using gzip-encoding)

To enable this option, you should open Filter Editor, select the tab "Host Header Logging" and set parameters.

What types of HTTP requests are analyzed?

HTTP/1.1 (RFC 2068). Each request HTTP/1.1 consists of the field "Host" contained the host name. Using this field allows to create two or more virtual web servers bound on the same IP address and on the same TCP port. The example of HTTP/1.1 request:
GET / HTTP/1.1 Host: www.w3.org
HTTP/1.0 (RFC 1945). There is no the field "Host" in HTTP/1.0, so IP address (in decimal dotted notation) will be logged instead the host name. The example of HTTP/1.0 request:
GET / HTTP/1.0
HTTP request through the proxy server. In this case, the string with HTTP request method must include the host name. The example of HTTP request through the proxy server:
GET http://www.w3.org/ HTTP/1.0
FTP request through the proxy server. The same as item 3, but with another protocol, for example:
GET ftp://ftp.w3.org/ HTTP/1.0

What types of HTTP requests are not analyzed?

It is not possible to analyze HTTPS (or secure HTTP) because this protocol uses an encryption.

See also: