408 Request Timeout
The HTTP response status code 408 Request Timeout is a client error that occurs when the server waits for too long to receive a request from the client.
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Introduction
In Action
Sample
Conclusion
Introduction
The HTTP response status code 408 Request Timeout is a client error that occurs when the server waits for too long to receive a request from the client.
If the server doesn’t receive the complete request within a specified time frame, it terminates the connection, indicating that the client took too long to send the request.
In Action
When the 408 Request Timeout error message is received, it means that the client’s request was not fully transmitted to the server within a specified time limit. This can happen due to a slow or dropped internet connection.
The server responds by closing the connection, and the client can retry the request after receiving the “Connection: close” header.
Note: Search engines like Google will not index a URL with the 408 Request Timeout response status, and URLs that return this status code may be removed from search results.
Sample
In the example, the client tries to upload a 10K PDF file to the server, but due to intermittent connectivity problems, the file transmission is too slow.
As a result, the server cancels the upload and closes the connection. Later, when the connection becomes stable again, the client tries to upload the file again, and this time, it is successful.
Initial request
PUT /docs HTTP/1.1
Host: www.example.com
Content-Type: applications/pdf
Content-Length: 10000
Initial response
HTTP/1.1 408 Request Timeout
Connection: Close
Content-Type: text/html
Content-Length: 198
< html>
< head>
< title>Connection Close< /title>
< /head>
< body>
< p>The transmission was not received quickly enough. Check internet connectivity and please try again.< /p>
< /body>
< /html>
Next request
PUT /docs HTTP/1.1
Host: www.example.com
Content-Type: applications/pdf
Content-Length: 10000
< File transfer successful for PDF file>
Final response
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Conclusion
The 408 Request Timeout status code indicates that the client’s request took too long to complete, and the server terminated the connection. This could be due to slow internet connectivity or dropped connections. The client can try the request again when the connection is stable.
