Re: Single-hit visitor generates 304 Status Code

by "Leland V. Lammert" <lvl(at)omnitec.net>

Date:	Wed, 08 Mar 2000 16:31:32 -0600
To:	Chuck Evans <Chucke(at)captura.com>, "'HWG Servers'" <hwg-servers(at)hwg.org>
In-Reply-To:	GIBRALTAR
	todo: View Thread, Original

At 12:56 PM 3/7/00 , Chuck Evans wrote:
>Looking at my web stats for February, one of my most frequent visitors seems
>to request a single file (graphic or html) and then waits a while and
>requests another. The requests go on like this all month at all hours of the
>day. Every request is coded 304. Here's one of the raw log entries (IIS 4):

Chuck,

What you are seeing is the result of the HTTP GET HEAD sequence - all it returns is a yes/no decision - has the document been modified since the last time it was checked.

It could come from a number of sources:

1) Search engines checking for updates

2) Users - a browser can do a HEAD request, and use a cache'd copy if not newer.

3) Robots, as you surmised.

Are you logging the TCP/IP of the browser? If so, you can do a reverse DNS to see where it/they are coming from.

          Lee
============================================
    Leland V. Lammert                                lvl(at)omnitec.net
       Chief Scientist                         Omnitec Corporation
   Network/Internet Consultants              www.omnitec.net
============================================

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