Beacon (RUM Beacon)
A beacon is a small, asynchronous packet of data that a website sends to a server for tracking or analytics purposes. In the context of Real User Monitoring (RUM), a RUM beacon is sent from the user's browser back to the RUM data collection server, containing the performance metrics for that user's page view. The Beacon API in modern browsers is designed to send these beacons reliably without slowing down the user's next navigation.
Related web performance terms
- Back/Forward Cache (bfcache)
The back/forward cache (or bfcache) is a browser optimization that enables instant navigations when a user clicks the back or forward buttons.
- Backend
The backend refers to the server-side components of a web application that are not visible to the end-user. This includes the web server, application logic, and databases.
- Backend Cache (AWS)
This is Speed Kit's central, primary cache where Anonymous HTML and other website assets are stored. It is hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS), a secure and highly reliable cloud computing platform.
- Backend Time
Backend Time is the duration it takes for a website's Origin Server to process a request and generate the HTML for a page.