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RFC 2616 - Hypertext Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.1

Published: June 1999
Status: Obsoleted by RFC 7230-7235 (Historic)
Authors: R. Fielding, J. Gettys, J. Mogul, H. Frystyk, L. Masinter, P. Leach, T. Berners-Lee

Abstract​

The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application-level protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. It is a generic, stateless, protocol which can be used for many tasks beyond its use for hypertext, such as name servers and distributed object management systems, through extension of its request methods, error codes and headers. A feature of HTTP is the typing and negotiation of data representation, allowing systems to be built independently of the data being transferred.

HTTP has been in use by the World-Wide Web global information initiative since 1990. This specification defines the protocol referred to as "HTTP/1.1", and is an update to RFC 2068.

Table of Contents​

Core Sections​

Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999). All Rights Reserved.

  • Official Text: RFC 2616 (TXT)
  • Official Page: RFC 2616 DataTracker
  • Superseded By: RFC 7230-7235 (HTTP/1.1 New Specification)
  • Latest Version: RFC 9110-9114 (HTTP Semantics and HTTP/3)

Why is RFC 2616 So Important?​

Historical Significance​

HTTP Evolution:
1991 - HTTP/0.9 (Simple Protocol)
1996 - HTTP/1.0 (RFC 1945)
1999 - HTTP/1.1 (RFC 2616) ← Classic Version ⭐
2014 - HTTP/1.1 (RFC 7230-7235) ← Improved Version
2015 - HTTP/2 (RFC 7540)
2022 - HTTP/3 (RFC 9114)

Key Features​

  • Persistent Connections: Keep-Alive mechanism
  • Chunked Transfer Encoding: Stream data without knowing content length
  • Content Negotiation: Server can provide different representations
  • Caching: Comprehensive caching mechanisms
  • Virtual Hosts: Host header allows multiple domains on one IP
  • Range Requests: Partial content support