Redundant Requests Denied by 403

[keyplyr]

2 questions:

I have a couple JS driven utilities where the same few image files are redundantly called by the user's browser. I notice that most users start to get 304s after the initial requests, but some continue to get 200s. Why is that?

Also, from what I can see from comparing the access_logs to the error_logs, sometimes when a user requests the same file a dozen or more times, Apache denies ("denied by server configuration") this request, giving a 403. Is this common or is it likely that my host is regulating?

Thanks

[hakre]

hi keyplyr,

I notice that most users start to get 304s after the initial requests, but some continue to get 200s. Why is that?

304 is the http response code for not modified which means that the server tells the browser the requested file hasn't been modified since the last request. if a user configures it's browser to get every file everytime (no-cache), then it won't ask the server if it has been modified since the last request, so that user will get a 200.

sometimes when a user requests the same file a dozen or more times, Apache denies ("denied by server configuration") this request, giving a 403. Is this common or is it likely that my host is regulating?

that's a flood protection of your server and it should be common (max requests per client etc.). but you can configure the apache in certain ways to gain a more fitting protection maybe or you can check your scripts for a better compability with your server - are all requests really needed if some users get a 304 for example.

-hakre