Error log, '305' file (Amazon, MS, Google)

Unfamiliar entries

[cyberdyne]

I've tried not to micro-manage my site lately but the following showed up in my error log and I wondered what they were as I've not come across such entries before. I also thought it strange how so many different organizations should be trying to access the same non-existent file.

They seem strange since almost all hit within 3 minutes of each other and the remainder within the next 2 hours, then they stopped.

The majority of the IP's are US-based (1 Norway), a lot are Amazon IP's, a couple are Google and a couple of Microsoft.
(I've removed the last part of each IP).

Can anyone tell me what they were doing / looking for please?
Many thanks

[Tue Jun 22 22:36:50 2010] [error] [client 216.168.43.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 21:21:55 2010] [error] [client 75.101.232.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:54:55 2010] [error] [client 216.168.43.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/406.shtml
[Tue Jun 22 20:50:30 2010] [error] [client 70.37.65.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:33:44 2010] [error] [client 174.129.213.*] client denied by server configuration: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:32:57 2010] [error] [client 38.100.41.*] client denied by server configuration: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:32:42 2010] [error] [client 64.13.147.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:31:28 2010] [error] [client 67.207.201.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:31:26 2010] [error] [client 89.151.116.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:31:21 2010] [error] [client 74.112.128.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:31:20 2010] [error] [client 204.236.254.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:31:20 2010] [error] [client 204.236.254.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:31:12 2010] [error] [client 174.129.107.*] client denied by server configuration: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:31:11 2010] [error] [client 72.14.212.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:31:09 2010] [error] [client 204.236.254.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:30:59 2010] [error] [client 204.236.254.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:30:49 2010] [error] [client 204.236.251.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305, referer: h*tp://twitter.com
[Tue Jun 22 20:30:48 2010] [error] [client 216.24.142.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:30:48 2010] [error] [client 65.52.2.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:30:45 2010] [error] [client 216.24.142.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:30:45 2010] [error] [client 128.242.241.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:30:43 2010] [error] [client 128.242.241.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:30:43 2010] [error] [client 38.113.234.*] client denied by server configuration: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:30:42 2010] [error] [client 128.242.241.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:30:42 2010] [error] [client 128.242.241.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:30:42 2010] [error] [client 217.144.236.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:30:41 2010] [error] [client 66.249.66.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:30:41 2010] [error] [client 128.242.241.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:30:41 2010] [error] [client 204.236.175.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:30:41 2010] [error] [client 38.113.234.*] client denied by server configuration: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:30:41 2010] [error] [client 184.73.50.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305, referer: h*tp://twitter.com
[Tue Jun 22 20:30:41 2010] [error] [client 128.242.241.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305
[Tue Jun 22 20:30:41 2010] [error] [client 173.203.216.*] File does not exist: /home/mycpanel/public_html/305

[jdMorgan]

Just a guess, but these requests look to be fishing around for your 406-Not Acceptable error response page, which should return a list of acceptable request-types, and (possibly) also for your 305-Use Proxy response, which should return a list of proxy addresses to be used to access the site.

As to why, I don't know... I don't usually spend a lot of time speculating on this stuff, but rather just ask, "Can these requests really hurt me/my site?" and "Are there so many of these requests that they are slowing down my server handling all of them?" If so, then I block the requests by IP, by user-agent, and/or by "other characteristics" such as requested URL-path and HTTP header values.

Since all of these appear to have gotten a 404-Not Found response, the only concern is whether you return a 'short and sweet' 404 error page, or some highly-styled, fancy, template-driven long error page. If the latter, then handling these bogus requests may actually present a non-negligible load on your server, and you should consider using a more-compact 404 error page.

I tend to have little tolerance for such requests. If they present any real problem for the server, I block them and move on without much analysis -- Better to spend time more productively on content- and link-generation than to waste time on these requests.

However, do note that at least some of these requests come from servers, and some come from Googlebot addresses and Yahoo! Norway Search. Be very sure that your server error-handling is set up correctly, and that the various error handlers directly return the correct error code -- Specifically, be sure that your server is NOT generating a 301 or 302 redirect to these error pages. Test thoroughly with Live HTTP Headers or a similar tool.

Jim

[cyberdyne]

Thank you jdMorgan.

As I say, I've tied not to look too closely at entries such as these for some time now but these stood out as unusual. I have a pretty small 403 page and I can't see these causing me too much fo a problem or costing me too much bandwidth so I'll just make a note of when they occured and at least I'll have soemthing to refer to should it start happening more often.

Many thanks for the advice.

[jdMorgan]

I said "404 error page," and you said "my 403 error page is small." Make sure you understood my intent, as these "file not founds" should be invoking your 404 handler, not your 403 handler. Different things altogether...

Jim

[cyberdyne]

I understod. My 404 is in place, as is my 403. The above was just a typo. :)
Many thanks Jim