PAT - RSS PEAK ACCESS TIME
This blog straddles the line between technical and non-technical discussions. This posting leans more toward the technical in terms of how to use the information here. However, if you are an RSS Publisher, knowing what the PAT (Peak Access Time) metric represents is worthwhile and may help keep your web site and RSS Feed running smoothly.
PAT or Peak Access Time refers to the time of day that your Feed URL and the associated details pages are being accessed on a given day. This metric is best calculated over a longer duration, such as a month or even a year or longer.
The general principle is to split a 24 hour day into several periods, typically one hour intervals. (Some people prefer 2- or 4-hour intervals.) Then, for each day across a date range, we calculate the number of times any file related to your RSS Feed has been accessed.
We want ALL accesses counted, including duplicate accesses by the same IP addresses. Let's assume that we'll calculate file access in one hour intervals, starting at 12 midnight and ending at 11:59 pm. For each interval, how many RSS Feed-related files were accessed each day? As an example, let's pick the first interval, 12:00 midnight to 12:59 am. What is the total number of Feed-file accesses in that interval on all days of our date range? Calculate this total for each of the remaining 23 one-hour time slots over the date range. The interval with the highest total is the PAT, or Peak Access Time.
In reality, PAT is calculated by totalling the size of each of the Feed-files accessed during each time slot, not by their access count. However, for simplicity, by assuming each Feed-file is the same size, we essentially get the same result with less computing effort. In fact, this an acceptable measure for a single RSS Feed because we just want a relative measure to see what time of day, over a long duration, the Feed is most commonly accessed.
What is the value of the PAT? We'll discuss just two uses for PAT:
It is worthwhile to calculate the PAT every day, then total it up per time slot over intervals such as a week, each month, quarterly, and over the "lifetime" of the feed. Doing so will help you to see any seasonal trends, which you can take advantage of. (Again, your tech crew may assign extra resources during peak season, and your marketing dept can adjust advertising rates for off-peak seasons.) As you can see, PAT may be calculated for a single day, initially, but can be aggregated into a suite of values for different purposes.
(c) Copyright 2005, Raj Kumar Dash, http://netmetrics.blogspot.com
PAT or Peak Access Time refers to the time of day that your Feed URL and the associated details pages are being accessed on a given day. This metric is best calculated over a longer duration, such as a month or even a year or longer.
The general principle is to split a 24 hour day into several periods, typically one hour intervals. (Some people prefer 2- or 4-hour intervals.) Then, for each day across a date range, we calculate the number of times any file related to your RSS Feed has been accessed.
We want ALL accesses counted, including duplicate accesses by the same IP addresses. Let's assume that we'll calculate file access in one hour intervals, starting at 12 midnight and ending at 11:59 pm. For each interval, how many RSS Feed-related files were accessed each day? As an example, let's pick the first interval, 12:00 midnight to 12:59 am. What is the total number of Feed-file accesses in that interval on all days of our date range? Calculate this total for each of the remaining 23 one-hour time slots over the date range. The interval with the highest total is the PAT, or Peak Access Time.
In reality, PAT is calculated by totalling the size of each of the Feed-files accessed during each time slot, not by their access count. However, for simplicity, by assuming each Feed-file is the same size, we essentially get the same result with less computing effort. In fact, this an acceptable measure for a single RSS Feed because we just want a relative measure to see what time of day, over a long duration, the Feed is most commonly accessed.
What is the value of the PAT? We'll discuss just two uses for PAT:
- Estimating Server Resources - This is of value to your technical crew. It just tells them that if, say, 1:00 pm - 1:59 pm every weekday (Mon-Fri) is the PAT, then they should ensure that your web server is not performing any unnecessary tasks during that interval, in order to free up computing resources for the RSS Feed. In this situation, it's best to calculate access counts over 4- or 6-hour intervals.
Since there are six 4-hour intervals in a 24 hour day, you may want to calculate the PAT and the next highest total as well, and free up your web server during those two slots. - Advertising Rates - This is of value to your marketing department. If your RSS Feed distinctly shows the difference in Feed access over different time slots, marketing can assign different advertising rates to different time slots. However, in this scenario, to maximize the peak access count, it is best to set the time slot to a larger interval, such as 4- to 6-hour slots. This rate plan is analogous to costing
ads in a magazine by their page placement: highest cost on inside and back covers, lowest cost in the classifieds area, etc. (You do not want to have too many different prices, so minimize them by reducing the number of time slots in a 24 hour period simply by using a larger interval. I suggest 4 or 6 hours simply because they divide into 24 evenly.)
It is worthwhile to calculate the PAT every day, then total it up per time slot over intervals such as a week, each month, quarterly, and over the "lifetime" of the feed. Doing so will help you to see any seasonal trends, which you can take advantage of. (Again, your tech crew may assign extra resources during peak season, and your marketing dept can adjust advertising rates for off-peak seasons.) As you can see, PAT may be calculated for a single day, initially, but can be aggregated into a suite of values for different purposes.
(c) Copyright 2005, Raj Kumar Dash, http://netmetrics.blogspot.com
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