How to Find Where a Web Site Is Hosted
Want to know where a website is hosted? Well, first of all, let's narrow down what that means. You probably won't be able to find out the exact physical location of the computer that hosts the website. In some cases you will be able to find out the names of the administrative or technical contacts, but increasingly that information is protected by paid privacy protection services. You will, however, likely be able to find out what company is hosting the website, and in web parlance, that's what you want to know when you want to find out where a website is hosted.
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Instructions
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Do a "whois" search. This is a search that shows you who has registered a domain. There are many sites that allow you to perform this search; see Resources for just a few examples. The site WhoIsHostingThis.com offers the simplest results; typing in a website address will yield the very simple result: "xxx.com is hosted at xxx.com," as seen in the image.
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Read through the results of a more complex "whois" search, such as one done through GoDaddy's "whois" search. In the example in the image, Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. shows the website DesignLogicMedia.com is hosted at GoDaddy. The administrative and technical contacts show DomainsByProxy, meaning privacy restrictions were put into place to prevent the address and phone number from showing up and being available to spammers.
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Call or e-mail the administrative or technical contact, if it is listed, for further information.
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Go to the website itself as an alternate to, or in addition to, a "whois" search. Often, the website will have information on where it is hosted. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, and you may see "Hosted by" and the name of a company.
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Contact the person listed as webmaster on the website itself. Depending on the circumstances, that person may be willing to offer you information.
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Tips & Warnings
More website registrants are using privacy protection options. If you are registering your own site, it's a good idea to use this as it cuts down on spam.
