Acceleration

The Acceleration module provides a real-time optimization layer that enhances web application responsiveness and improves the efficiency of web content delivery. Operating transparently on the FortiWeb appliance, it requires no integration with web application servers and no client-side installation.

An Acceleration policy defines the optimization techniques applied to various types of web content, including HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and image formats such as PNG, JPEG, and GIF. Optimization options include content minification and compression, with format-aware processing to reduce payload sizes and improve cache efficiency. For example, images can be automatically compressed or converted to more efficient formats such as WebP when supported by the client.

Policies can also specify exception rules to exclude certain URLs or resources from acceleration.

Acceleration is supported in Reverse Proxy, True Transparent Proxy, and WCCP operating modes.

If Acceleration is not enabled in Feature Visibility, you must enable it before you can create an Acceleration policy by going to System > Config > Feature Visibility > Additional Features.

To create an Acceleration exception rule:

1. Go to Application Delivery > Acceleration.
2. Select the Acceleration Exception tab.
3. Click Create New.
4. For Name, enter a name for the exception rule that can be referenced in an Acceleration policy.
5. Click OK.
6. Click Create New.
7. Configure these settings:
   

   Host status	Enable to require that the Host: field of the HTTP request match a protected host names entry in order to match the Acceleration exceptions rule. Also configure Host.
   Host	Select which protected host names entry (either a web host name or IP address) that the Host: field of the HTTP request must be in to match the Acceleration exceptions rule. This option is available only if Host status is enabled.
   Type	Select whether the URL Pattern field must contain either: Simple String—The field is a string that the request URL must match exactly. Regular Expression—The field is a regular expression that defines a set of matching URLs.
   URL Pattern	Depending on your selection in Type, enter either: Simple String—Enter a literal URL, such as /folder1/index.htm that the HTTP request must contain in order to match the rule, or use wildcards to match multiple URLs, such as /folder1/* or /folder1/*/index.htm. The URL must begin with a slash ( / ). Regular Expression—A regular expression, such as ^/*.php, matching the URLs to which the rule should apply. The pattern does not require a slash ( / ). Do not include the domain name, such as www.example.com, which is configured separately in Host. To test a regular expression, click the >> (test) icon. This icon opens the Regular Expression Validator window from which you can fine-tune the expression. For details, see Regular expression syntax and Cookbook regular expressions.

8. Click OK.
   You can repeat steps above to add more items.

To create an Acceleration policy:

1. Go to Application Delivery > Acceleration.
2. Select the Acceleration Policy tab.
3. Click Create New.
4. Configure these settings:
   

   Parameter	Description
   Acceleration Exceptions	Select an Acceleration exception rule from the drop-down list. You can click the view icon next to views details bout the rule.
   HTML
   Minification	Enable to minify js in the script and delete the extra white space and comments to reduce bandwidth utilization.
   Combine Heads	Enable to combine multiple heads in HTML page to one.
   Move CSS to Head	Enable to move CSS elements above script tags. Note: This ensures that the CSS styes are parsed in the head of the HTML page before any body elements are introduced. In so doing, it can effectively reduce the number of times web browsers have to re-flow HTML documents.
   JavaScript
   Minification	Enable to minify js in the script and delete the extra white space and comments to reduce bandwidth utilization.
   CSS
   Minification	Enable to minify js in the script and delete the extra white space and comments to reduce bandwidth utilization.
   Image
   Image Minification	Enable to compress PNG, JPEG, and GIF image responses to WebP format when the client’s Accept header includes image/webp. Applies only to eligible responses with supported Content-Type.

5. Click OK.

To add the Acceleration policy to a server policy:

1. Go to Policy > Server Policy.
2. Select an existing server policy to which you want to include the Acceleration policy.
3. Or click Create HTTP Policy to create a new HTTP server policy.
4. Click Edit.
5. For Application Delivery > Acceleration, select the Acceleration policy from the drop down list.

   Note: To view details about a selected Acceleration policy, click the view icon next to the drop down list.

6. Click OK.