HTTP request message

 two types of HTTP messages: request, response

 HTTP request message:
 ASCII (human-readable format)

request line
(GET, POST, GET /somedir/page.html HTTP/1.1
HEAD commands) Host: www.someschool.edu
User-agent: Mozilla/4.0
header Connection: close
lines Accept-language:fr

Carriage return,
line feed (extra carriage return, line feed)
indicates end
of message
2: Application Layer 1
HTTP request message: general format

2: Application Layer 2
Uploading form input
Post method:
 Web page often
includes form input URL method:
 Input is uploaded to  Uses GET method
server in entity body  Input is uploaded in
URL field of request
line:

www.somesite.com/animalsearch?monkeys&banana

2: Application Layer 3
Method types
HTTP/1.0 HTTP/1.1
 GET  GET, POST, HEAD
 POST  PUT
 HEAD  uploads file in entity
body to path specified
 asks server to leave
in URL field
requested object out of
response  DELETE
 deletes file specified in
the URL field

2: Application Layer 4
HTTP response message
status line
(protocol
status code HTTP/1.1 200 OK
status phrase) Connection close
Date: Thu, 06 Aug 1998 12:00:15 GMT
header Server: Apache/1.3.0 (Unix)
lines Last-Modified: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 …...
Content-Length: 6821
Content-Type: text/html

data, e.g., data data data data data ...

requested
HTML file

2: Application Layer 5
HTTP response status codes
In first line in server->client response message.
A few sample codes:
200 OK
 request succeeded, requested object later in this message
301 Moved Permanently
 requested object moved, new location specified later in
this message (Location:)
400 Bad Request
 request message not understood by server
404 Not Found
 requested document not found on this server
505 HTTP Version Not Supported
2: Application Layer 6
 Trying out HTTP (client side) for yourself

1. Telnet to your favorite Web server:

telnet cis.poly.edu 80 Opens TCP connection to port 80
(default HTTP server port) at cis.poly.edu.
Anything typed in sent
to port 80 at cis.poly.edu

2. Type in a GET HTTP request:

GET /~ross/ HTTP/1.1 By typing this in (hit carriage
Host: cis.poly.edu return twice), you send
this minimal (but complete)
GET request to HTTP server

3. Look at response message sent by HTTP server!

2: Application Layer 7
User-server state: cookies
Example:
Many major Web sites
 Susan always access
use cookies
Internet always from PC
Four components:
 visits specific e-
1) cookie header line of
HTTP response message commerce site for first
2) cookie header line in time
HTTP request message  when initial HTTP
3) cookie file kept on
user’s host, managed by requests arrives at site,
user’s browser site creates:
4) back-end database at  unique ID
Web site
 entry in backend
database for ID

2: Application Layer 8
 Cookies: keeping “state” (cont.)
client server
ebay 8734
usual http request msg
Amazon server
cookie file usual http response creates ID
Set-cookie: 1678 1678 for user create
ebay 8734 entry
amazon 1678
usual http request msg
cookie: 1678 cookie- access
specific
one week later: usual http response msg action backend
database
access
ebay 8734 usual http request msg
amazon 1678 cookie: 1678 cookie-
spectific
usual http response msg action

2: Application Layer 9
Cookies (continued)
aside
What cookies can bring: Cookies and privacy:
 authorization  cookies permit sites to
 shopping carts learn a lot about you
 you may supply name
 recommendations
and e-mail to sites
 user session state
(Web e-mail)
How to keep “state”:
 protocol endpoints: maintain state
at sender/receiver over multiple
transactions
 cookies: http messages carry state

2: Application Layer 10
 Web caches (proxy server)
Goal: satisfy client request without involving origin server

 user sets browser: Web origin

server
accesses via cache
 browser sends all HTTP Proxy
HT
requests to cache TP
req server q uest
H u P re
T
client TP e st T T o n se
 object in cache: cache res H
r es
p
pon P
returns object se H TT
e st
 else cache requests r eq
u
object from origin server, T P o nse
HT p
r es
then returns object to T TP
client H

client
origin
server

2: Application Layer 11
More about Web caching
 cache acts as both Why Web caching?
client and server  reduce response time
 typically cache is for client request
installed by ISP  reduce traffic on an
(university, company, institution’s access
residential ISP) link.
 Internet dense with
caches: enables “poor”
content providers to
effectively deliver
content (but so does
P2P file sharing)
2: Application Layer 12
Caching example
origin
Assumptions servers
 average object size = 100,000
bits public
Internet
 avg. request rate from
institution’s browsers to origin
servers = 15/sec
 delay from institutional router to 1.5 Mbps
any origin server and back to access link
router = 2 sec
institutional
Consequences network
10 Mbps LAN
 utilization on LAN = 15%
 utilization on access link = 100%
 total delay = Internet delay + access
delay + LAN delay institutional
= 2 sec + minutes + milliseconds cache

2: Application Layer 13
Caching example (cont)
origin
possible solution servers
 increase bandwidth of access
public
link to, say, 10 Mbps Internet
consequence
 utilization on LAN = 15%
 utilization on access link = 15% 10 Mbps
 Total delay = Internet delay + access link
access delay + LAN delay institutional
= 2 sec + msecs + msecs network
10 Mbps LAN
 often a costly upgrade

institutional
cache

2: Application Layer 14
Caching example (cont)
origin
possible solution: install servers
cache public
 suppose hit rate is 0.4 Internet
consequence
 40% requests will be
satisfied almost immediately
 60% requests satisfied by 1.5 Mbps
access link
origin server
 utilization of access link institutional
reduced to 60%, resulting in network
10 Mbps LAN
negligible delays (say 10
msec)
 total avg delay = Internet
delay + access delay + LAN institutional
delay = .6*(2.01) secs + . cache
4*milliseconds < 1.4 secs

2: Application Layer 15
 Conditional GET

 Goal: don’t send object if cache server

cache has up-to-date cached HTTP request msg
version If-modified-since:
object
 cache: specify date of <date>
not
cached copy in HTTP request modified
HTTP response
If-modified-since: HTTP/1.0
<date> 304 Not Modified
 server: response contains no
object if cached copy is up-
HTTP request msg
to-date: If-modified-since:
HTTP/1.0 304 Not <date> object
Modified modified
HTTP response
HTTP/1.0 200 OK
<data>
2: Application Layer 16