We recently rolled out mod_gzip, an apache mod that zips up content between the browser and server. Mod_gzip works with Apache 1.x, mod_deflate is its Apache 2.x counterpart. The results for our largest customers, both Fortune 500 companies, are nothing short of staggering.

We applied this Apache mod to just the portion of our app that goes between us and our customers – the content there is a mix of applets, images, xml, and html/javascript/css. On average, our bandwidth decreased by 58-62% – we are now consuming less than half as much bandwidth, and the cost is only a minor increase in CPU utilization. This minor change will save us gigabytes a day in bandwidth, so I’m quite excited.