We just came across these articles (or re-found them, as is often the case with great resources) covering HTTP compression in specific and high performance Web apps in general... They are both worth a spin.
> HTTP Compression for Web Applications
http://www.intel.com/cd/ids/developer/asmo-na/eng/208335.htm?prn=Y
This primer of sorts on compression by Intel, no less, provides a detailed case for compression with benchmark testing. If you need the numbers ahead of time to provide compression is worth a look, check out Intel's research on the subject. IIS 6.0 focused, she be.
> 10 Tips for Writing High-Performance Web Applications
http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/05/01/ASPNETPerformance/
ASP.Net-focused, this article provides some admin and dev tips on getting your apps to sing, speed-wise, over the Web. Point #9 is very crucial, in our estimation (shameless plugs work, sometimes), though the author missed that whole pesky browser compatibility and easy management thing...
Best,
Port80