htaccess and multiple htpasswd - apache

Question

I protected a couple of pages via the htaccess and htpasswd. Until now the site functioned well, but the last couple of days, we're experiencing some problems, and i wan't rule out this part of code.
My htaccess:
<Files "leiden.html">
AuthName "Name and Password"
AuthUserFile /var/www/fullpath to/.htpasswd
Require valid-user
AuthType Basic
</Files>
<Files "alkmaar.html">
AuthName "Name and Password"
AuthUserFile /var/www/fullpath to/.htpasswd2
Require valid-user
AuthType Basic
</Files>
<Files "vlaardingen.html">
AuthName "Name and Password"
AuthUserFile /var/www/fullpath to/.htpasswd3
Require valid-user
AuthType Basic
</Files>
ErrorDocument 401 /error401.html
And the corresponding htpasswd's containing the encrypted name and password combination.
.htpasswd
aaa:bbbb
.htpasswd2
ccc:dddd
.htpasswd3
eee:ffff
Is it possible to use multiple htpasswd's in this way or is there a better/cleaner solution to use only one htaccess and only one htpasswd?
For some reason, the site regularly blocks a user's ip-adress as a safety-precaution and i want to rule this security-solution out as cause of the problem.
Thanx in advance.
Melkman

Answer 1

Is it possible to use multiple htpasswd's in this way or is there a better/cleaner solution to use only one htaccess and only one htpasswd?
Something that you could do is keep on htpasswd file, and instead of using Require valid-user, use the require with a specific username:
<Files "leiden.html">
AuthName "Name and Password"
AuthUserFile /var/www/fullpath to/.htpasswd
Require user aaa
AuthType Basic
</Files>
<Files "alkmaar.html">
AuthName "Name and Password"
AuthUserFile /var/www/fullpath to/.htpasswd
Require user bbb
AuthType Basic
</Files>
<Files "vlaardingen.html">
AuthName "Name and Password"
AuthUserFile /var/www/fullpath to/.htpasswd
Require user ccc
AuthType Basic
</Files>
The mod_authz stuff (htpasswd/BASIC auth) isn't what's causing IP addresses to be blocked. Something else must be causing that.