Is Domain Sharding relevant in 2020 with HTTP/2.0?

Question

Client side optimization

Domain Sharding technology was invented to bypass restrictions in HTTP/1.0 - when images, scripts and styles are loaded from separate subdomains (js.site.com, css.site.com...). With the advent of version 2, this seems to have become irrelevant, but large resources still use this practice (the same Pikabu stores static on a separate subdomain - not to be confused with CND). GTMetrix also advises "Use cookie-free domains" (but I'm not sure if they're the same).

Is it worth moving all statics to a subdomain (especially if using CloudFlare)? What is it called and where can I read about it?

Answer 1

large resources still use this practice

The cost of changing the infrastructure to fit it takes time and costs money

Is it worth moving all statics to a subdomain?

it depends. It all depends on the specific project and its complexity. In 99% of cases it doesn't matter. A big advantage is given by CDN + object Storage for statics to offload computing resources. Considering that all CDNs today support http / 2 out of the box, I generally consider the question not worth the time spent on it)

Answer 2

GTMetrix also advises "Use cookie-free domains" (but I'm not sure if they're the same).

Here we are talking about the fact that cookies sometimes weigh more than the content received (and they are transmitted with each request). Taking into account the fact that the outgoing channel of clients is often worse than the incoming one, it makes no sense to drive exactly the same and useless data in hundreds of requests. IMHO, if it is possible to send static from a subdomain without cookies, then it's better to do so.