Types of Website (HTTP) Errors? - [Full Guide]
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| HTTP Error Codes |
Intro: (What is HTTP or HTTPS?)
Each data exchange between a web browser and server program can be broken down into parts using the structured language of the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP). This article explains the most common kinds of HTTP errors that are displayed when data between the client and server is transacted incorrectly.
Your web browser receives data from a web server when it displays that data on your screen. Client-server architecture facilitates this type of data transfer using various protocols. HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) represent the most important protocols that help communication between a web server and a client computer on the world wide web. Internet transactions are conversations between a server and a client.
When a client makes a request, a server responds according to the nature and particulars of the request. Various types of HTTP errors are displayed on the web browser if the server is unable to process a client's request or if the client makes an incorrect request. Data transactions go wrong, and they report it. A list of HTTP server errors and client errors is presented in this article, which is essential knowledge for webmasters, web developers, and network administrators.
By typing a web address into your browser and hitting enter, domain name servers translate the name into a URL (Uniform Resource Locator, which is the address of the webserver hosting the pages). The client or user agent (your web browser) then sends a request to the webserver for specific data. Depending on the request, the server will provide the data required. An HTTP error will be displayed in the browser if there is a problem with the request.
Servers communicate with clients 'HTTP Response Status Codes', which contain a coded language used to express the nature of problems or conditions of requests. There are some codes that are provided by IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) Internet standards and some that are provided by RFCs (Request for Comments) that have not yet been validated. A server may provide five different types of responses, each corresponding to a specific prefix number between 1 and 5. A number of these three-digit codes, particularly 4xx and 5xx, represent error messages. As soon as a problem arises in displaying data in a browser, DNS errors are displayed.
Types of HTTP Errors (codes):
Types of HTTP Client Errors:
Error messages include an error code and a 'reason phrase' that briefly describes the cause of the error. The following are the standard HTTP 4xx errors displayed in a browser when something is amiss in a client's request made to the server. These codes, along with the HTTP server error response codes described in the next section, are all part of the HHTP/1.1 standard.
| HTTP Error Code | Reason Phrase | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 400 | Bad Request | This error code indicates that the request cannot be processed because of the wrong syntax usage by the client. |
| 401 | Unauthorized | This error code indicates that the client is not authorized to receive the requested data, without authentication. A login name and password-based authentication might be required to access the requested data. |
| 403 | Forbidden | There is no way you can access the requested data. A 403 error announces that the data is off-limits. |
| 404 | Not Found | This error indicates that the resources requested by the client are currently unavailable. |
| 405 | Method Not Allowed | This error indicates the wrong usage of the request method. Depending on the kind of data requested, the appropriate request method must be chosen. |
| 406 | Not Acceptable | When the data provided by a web server does not match the specifications made in the ‘Accept’ header of the client HTTP request, this error is the result. |
| 407 | Proxy Authentication Required | This error clearly indicates that authentication from the proxy server is required to gain access to requested resources. |
| 408 | Request Timeout | The server timed out waiting for the request. According to HTTP specifications: "The client did not produce a request within the time that the server was prepared to wait. The client MAY repeat the request without modifications at any later time. |
| 409 | Conflict | This indicates that the request could not be processed because of conflict in the current state of the resource, such as an edit conflict between multiple simultaneous updates. |
| 410 | Gone | This indicates that the resource requested is no longer available and will not be available again. This should be used when a resource has been intentionally removed and the resource should be purged. Upon receiving a 410 status code, the client should not request the resource in the future. |
| 411 | Length Required | The request did not specify the length of its content, which is required by the requested resource. |
| 412 | Precondition Failed | The server does not meet one of the preconditions that the requester put on the request header fields. |
| 413 | Payload Too Large | The request is larger than the server is willing or able to process. Previously called "Request Entity Too Large |
| 414 | URI Too Long | The URI provided was too long for the server to process. |
| 415 | Unsupported Media Type | The request entity has a media type that the server or resource does not support. For example, the client uploads an image as image/svg+xml, but the server requires that images use a different format.[ |
| 416 | Range Not Satisfiable | Sometimes, a client may request for only a small part of a file, instead of asking for the entire file. If this request is not specified properly and the part of the file requested does not exist, this error is displayed. |
| 417 | Expectation Failed | The server cannot meet the requirements of the Expect request-header field. |
| 422 | Unprocessable Entity | The request was well-formed but was unable to be followed due to semantic errors. |
| 423 | Locked | The resource that is being accessed is locked. |
| 424 | Failed Dependency | The request failed because it depended on another request and that request failed |
| 426 | Upgrade Required | The client should switch to a different protocol, given in the Upgrade header field. |
| 444 | No Response | This error signifies that the server has simply rejected the client request and terminated the connection. |
| 450 | Blocked By Windows Parental Controls | Another error code introduced by Microsoft, this one is displayed when a URL is blocked by parental control settings on the web browsers. |
Types of HTTP Server Errors:
Server-side errors are reported with 5xx codes. Here are the most common errors that indicate server-side problems.
| HTTP Error Code | Reason Phrase | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 500 | Internal Server Error | A generic error message, given when an unexpected condition was encountered and no more specific message is suitable. |
| 501 | Not Implemented | This error indicates the inability of the server to process a request, as it hasn’t been configured to respond to the request method used. |
| 502 | Bad Gateway | The server was acting as a gateway or proxy and received an invalid response from the upstream server. |
| 503 | Service Unavailable | The server cannot handle the request (because it is overloaded or down for maintenance). Generally, this is a temporary state.[ |
| 504 | Gateway Timeout | When the request made by a proxy server to the web server hosting resource times out, error 504 is reported. |
| 505 | HTTP Version Not Supported | An error code is seen rarely, it is displayed when the web server does not support the protocol version of the client request. |
Conclusion:
These are some of the most common HTTP errors encountered while browsing the Internet for data. Using standard error codes makes it easier for the client-side user to understand what went wrong when handling a data request. One can correct an error by identifying and interpreting the error code. I hope this HTTP error response code reference is helpful for wayfarers on the web. Full references to HTTP codes can be found on Wikipedia. Here I have just mentioned the most commonly encountered errors.
Reference:
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