Optimizing TLS over TCP to reduce latency

What this post added

This post introduces an optimization for TLS over TCP to reduce latency. It explains how the layering of TLS on top of TCP can cause delays due to fixed record sizes and TCP's congestion control mechanisms. Cloudflare has developed and open-sourced an NGINX patch that enables dynamic TLS record sizes, allowing them to adjust record sizes based on connection state (e.g., during TCP slow start or when segments are lost) to improve performance. This represents a deeper dive into network protocol optimization for content delivery.