Web Performance (Static vs Dynamic pages)?

Question

Hello all, I am building a web site like
http://www.bizrate.com/buy/browse__cat_id--402,de_id--300.html
and want to know if I use jsp to generate web pages(e.g. a user browse by Resolution), then each time the server would recompute and get the same result pages. (If my data doesn't change)
So, should I generate theses pages statically, or use jsp to generate these pages dynamically? If static, my server load should be lower.
Tomcat 4.1.24, Redhat 8.0, MySQL
Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Realistically, how often do you expect your pages to be accessed? How long does the dynamic rendering of a page take to complete? How soon does new data need to appear online?
If you have short rendering times and only a few hundred accesses a day, then there is no reason to worry about static generation of your pages, the dynamic generation of pages will suit your needs.
If, however, you have long rendering times (a complex query returning tens of thousands of rows will do it) or if you are looking at a huge number of accesses (lottery sites can get millions per month) and you don't need new information to appear immediately, the once-daily dynamic generation of static pages (via a cron job or other means) will suit your needs.
Check your needs, check your site with dynamic generation under load, and your question should answer itself.