High Performance iOS Networking, v1.20

Every year, iOS apps become more connected to network services used for critical functions like authentication and fetching content. The link between code on devices and the services that power them, however, is often unreliable and slow—especially for apps that have global reach. This talk is an overview of techniques and solutions available to minimize network latency when building high-performance apps, including new protocols available in iOS 9 like HTTP/2, SSL optimization techniques, and using content-delivery networks.

Talk at iOSDevUK, September 2016.

Transcript

1. High Performance iOS Networking, v1.2.0 @smithclay / New Relic iOSDevUK September 2016
2. - MENU - ▪APPS TODAY LATENCY WOES PROTOCOLING MORE PROTOCOLING DEBUGGING
3. The Client Server A E S T H E T I C data Server Client Newton Image CC 2.0 SA, flickr.com/photos/moparx/5321857668 data
4. Apps Today Client Newton Image CC 2.0 SA, flickr.com/photos/moparx/5321857668 Analytics Auth Ads Custom Content CDN API Gateway
5. DANGER Network latency ahead Newton Image CC 2.0 SA, flickr.com/photos/moparx/5321857668
6. -Physics! "Information can't travel faster than the speed of light."
7. • Wales to San Francisco: 5,284 mi (8503km) • Speed of Light in Fiber Optic Cable: 2*10^8 m/s • Human "this wasn't instantaneous" time: 100ms • We can perceive global network latency even under perfect conditions: YES
8. Protocols So what's the deal with...
9. Full TCP Handshake 1. SYN 2. SYN/ACK 3. ACK Data { Round trip { Client/Device Server RTT Count: 2
10. Full TCP + TLS Handshake Client/Device Server Data Transfer { Round trip 1. SYN 2. SYN/ACK 3. ACK { { TLS, +2 RTTs RTT Count:+2 Required for ATS!
11. TCP Fast Open (TFO) Client/Device Server 1. SYN 2. SYN/ACK+cookie 3. ACK Data { Round trip { http://devstreaming.apple.com/videos/wwdc/2015/719ui2k57m/719/719_your_app_and_next_generation_networks.pdf?dl=1 RTT Count: 2
12. TFO,#2 Req Client/Device Server 1. SYN+cookie 2. SYN/ACK+data { Round trip iOS 9+ supports this, but you're probably not going to use the low-level APIs to make this work. RTT Count:1
13. Protocol Performance Tips for App Devs Generally: reduce connections Use latest TLS version $ nscurl --ats-diagnostics <url> Physically closer is better Don't tune (unless you have to)* *If you are going to: https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-stenberg-httpbis- tcp-01 + https://istlsfastyet.com
14. HTTP/2 So what's the deal with...
15. iOS 9+ w/ NSURLSession
16. H2 Connection Multiplexing Client/Device Server Over a single TCP connection, multiple HTTP messages can be sent more efficiently. Connection closes Connection opens
17. H2 ADVANCED FEATURES HEADER COMPRESSION STREAM PRIORITIES (iOS 10) SERVER PUSH (iOS 10)
18. • Likely will need to upgrade your HTTP server... • Major Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) support it. • https://tools.keycdn.com/http2-test • https://blog.newrelic.com/2016/02/17/http2- production/ Server-side support
19. HTTP/2 Tips for iOS Devs H2 is not magic perf sauce Server-side push not well understood (yet)* Having metrics in place before switch is critical * Google is helping with this: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1K0NykTXBbbbTlv60t5MyJvXjqKGsCVNYHyLEXIxYMv0/edit Supported in NSURLSession
20. Caching So what's the deal with...
21. -Common Sense/Unknown "The fastest network request is one you don't have to make."
22. • NSURLRequestUseProtocolCachePolicy (default policy for NSURLSession) observes the protocol spec. • Cache-Control: max-age=<seconds>, public Cache-Control Header
23. ETag Header Client/Device Server ETag headers can inform clients they already have the requested resource. 200 OK Last-Modified: Mon, 22 ETag: ad87... GET /fave-cats.json GET /fave-cats.json If-None-Matched: ad87.. 304 Not Modified
24. Enabling more rapid server-side change "Backends for frontends" (BFFs) See: Netflix, Spotify (and others) Device "iOS Client Service" Ye Olde Systems HTTP2/ gRPC (?) QUIC (?) HTTP 1.1/ Terrible XML Stuff
25. • API Versioning (using headers—backwards compatible) • Horizontally scalable • Gateway for other legacy systems • Downside: must be highly available BFF attributes
26. Debugging So what's the deal with...
27. CF_NETWORK Diagnostics https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/qa/qa1887/_index.html
28. Example log
29. Remote Virtual Interface • rvictl creates an interface for packet capture tools (i.e. wireshark) • Device must be plugged in using USB • https://developer.apple.com/ library/mac/qa/qa1176/ _index.html • useyourloaf.com/blog/remote- packet-capture-for-ios-devices/
30. Wireshark Setup Download: http://wireshark.com/
31. Total Packet V I S I B I L I T Y
32. Instruments: Network
33. Not my go-to (sorry)
34. HTTP Proxies • mitmproxy: mitmproxy.org (0.16 supports HTTP/2!) • charlesproxy.com/Fiddler (Nice UI, paid, no HTTP/2 support yet) • Will not work with certificate pinning (no MITM permitted)
35. 1. El Capitan python issues: use brew install python 2. For simulator, must set proxy on OS X to 127.0.0.1:8080 to start capturing HTTP(S) traffic. 3. Must install certificate after running proxy: go to http://mitm.it on simulator. mitmproxy install notes
36. Example http://docs.mitmproxy.org/en/latest/mitmproxy.html
37. NSURLSession Metrics [new!] New in iOS 10! Thanks Apple! func urlSession( _ session: NSURLSession, task: NSURLSessionTask, didFinishCollecting metrics: NSURLSessionTaskMetrics) • Number of Redirects, time it took task to complete • Whole lot of goodness in NSURLSessionTaskMetrics • Build your own waterfall! • https://developer.apple.com/reference/foundation/ nsurlsessiontasktransactionmetrics
38. Thoughts Use NSURLSession. Audit server-side: using latest TLS? Is caching configured correctly? HTTP2? Consider using a CDN and measure latency! Reduce number of requests per host. Read https://hpbn.co/
39. Making apps fast is for people. ?s slides: slack/twitter @smithclay
40. SP 0:40:00 STOP