Editing 869: Server Attention Span

{{comic
| number    = 869
| date      = March 7, 2011
| title     = Server Attention Span
| image     = server_attention_span.png
| titletext = They have to keep the adjacent rack units empty. Otherwise, half the entries in their /var/log/syslog are just 'SERVER BELOW TRYING TO START CONVERSATION *AGAIN*.' and 'WISH THEY'D STOP GIVING HIM SO MUCH COFFEE IT SPLATTERS EVERYWHERE.'
}}

==Explanation==
The comic shows - in human language - part of the conversations that a browser and web server do in order to get the right page. The protocol they use is called {{w|Hypertext Transfer Protocol|HTTP}}.

This comic makes fun of the issues that would arise back in the early days of smartphones days when web-servers see a mobile browser. Often, they would automatically suggest to load the mobile version of the website, but then serve the front page of the mobile site and not the page the user had requested. In quite a few sites, there would be no 1-to-1 correspondence of pages between the regular and the mobile site, so this problem is difficult to solve and very annoying. Since the date of this comic, mobile versions of websites have improved significantly, so the types of problems discussed in the comic rarely happen, although the difficulty of persuading the browser and/or server to ''not'' customise web-pages for mobile usage (e.g., assuming the display is going to be in portrait orientation, so restyling it accordingly) is often a continuing problem. As are the continual intrusive popovers 'suggesting' the reader might wish to install (or open) the dedicated 'app'.

A second issue with HTTP is identified in the last panel. HTTP is a {{w|stateless protocol}}. After serving the web page, the connection is severed. Any new request for a page will have to start afresh - which is where the server starts with again: "Hi! I'm a server!" Of course, browsers do not have egos nor do they hold grudges{{Citation needed}} but it can be annoying for users. This design issue can also slow down the browsing experience.

The title text is a joke that all the other servers in the rack think the web server is being childish. <tt>/var/log/syslog</tt> is where Linux (used by the vast majority of servers) and other POSIX systems store their system log messages. The 'trying to start conversation' comment is probably a joke on {{w|Address Resolution Protocol|ARP}} discovery packets that are sent out to the network to see who is who. All servers send out ARP packets to see what other machines are on the network, but some machines send them out every 5 minutes, which can be extremely annoying for someone monitoring network traffic logs.

The coffee comment is another jab at web servers. Some websites use {{w|Java (programming language)|Java}}, or other {{w|JVM}} based languages ({{w|Apache Groovy}}, {{w|Scala}}, etc.) as the back end of the website, as opposed to using {{w|PHP}} or {{w|Active Server Pages|ASP}}. Of course, java is another word for coffee (moreover, the logo of Java is a cup of coffee), so a web server running on coffee is likely to be well-caffeinated, and well-caffeinated people tend to bounce off the walls with enthusiasm.

==Transcript==
:[Single server in a server rack.]
:Server: Hi! I'm a server! Who are you?

:[Mobile device with a web browser.]
:Browser: I'm a browser. I'd like to see this article.

:Server: Oh boy! I can help! Let me get it for— ...Whoa! You're a ''smartphone'' browser?

:Browser: Yeah.
:Server: Cooool! Hey, I've got this new mobile version of my site! Check it out! Isn't it pretty?

:Browser: Sure, but this is just your mobile site's main page. Where's the article I wanted?

:Server: What article?
:Browser: The one I—
:Server: Who are you?
:Browser: I—
:Server: Hi! I'm a server!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Computers]]