Charting Your Host


	Below are several tools, sites, tips and insider tricks on learning the whereabouts of any host. Please note that there are lots of variable that can affect the outcome of any of these tests. Map where is your site or host located. Use this handy tool to locate where your host or site is located. Simply enter the domain name or IP address in the form below and click "Locate". Use this handy tool to locate where your host or site is located. Simply enter the domain name or IP address in the form below and click "Locate". Search for Host by Name Enter the first few letters of the host you wish to research.


	Other Research Tools
	1. Who is your host?
	One of the easiest things to find out is who your host is. Obviously most hosts are more than happy to share this information right on their web site (why shouldn't they be?) but you can also dig a bit deeper by doing a "WHOIS" on their domain name. There are lots a ways to do a WHOIS on someone - one of which is right here.


	2. Who's hosting my host?
	Some hosts totally own and operate their own data center, while others house their servers in someone elses data center, while others simply buy reseller plans from another provider. Each of these scenarios comes with it's own set of advatanges for both the host and their customers so don't be quick to judge based on the results .

	2a. Who own's your host's IP address?
	In many cases, the host will NOT own their IP address (or even be listed as associated with it) as IP addresses are more commonly issued to the data center or the bandwidth provider. Nonetheless this can help you learn a little about where your host's site (and likely yours) is hosted.

	Step 1: Ping your host to get their IP address.
	How? Windows users go to your start menu and select RUN. Type command (98 users) or cmd (other Windows systems). When the little dos window (the command line we call it) pops up type this at the prompt: ping mywebhost.com (mywebhost.com being your web host) and hit enter. It will spit back a few lines looking something like this: Reply From 216.76.345.12 Bytes=32 Time=44ms TTL=113

	Step 2: Do a WHOIS on the IP address.
	You see that IP address in bold? Take the number generated by your ping and enter it into the WHOIS field in test 1 on this page. This will tell you who owns the IP address.

	2b. Who's helping with my host's DNS?
	Often the owner of the DNS server in which your host (or your site) is using is a clue as to who might be hosting your host. Getting this information is really easy.

	Step 1: Using the form above, do a WHOIS on your hosts domain name. Notice at the bottom of your results you should see Domain Name Servers and something like NS.MYHOST.COM listed. If there are IP addresses listed beside these, especially the first one on the list, copy it and then do another WHOIS on the IP address. That should tell you who's involved in the DNS process.