Knowledge base → Determine website hosting by domain

Date of publication: 22.09.2024

In this guide, we will explain how to find the hosting or server where a website is hosted, using only its domain name.

1. Using WHOIS

1.1 Using Online Services

For example, our WHOIS service provides information on most domain names:

https://synay.net/whois?query=synay.net
...
Updated Date: 2024-02-21T13:10:05Z
Creation Date: 2022-11-08T09:08:50Z
Registry Expiry Date: 2033-11-08T09:08:50Z
...
Name Server: NS1.NODENAME.RU
Name Server: NS2.NODENAME.RU

1.2 Using the whois Command in Linux

whois synay.net
...
Name Server: NS1.NODENAME.RU
Name Server: NS2.NODENAME.RU

This way, we can confirm that the domain is registered, and we are particularly interested in the name server fields that the domain points to.

Note! Identifying the domain's DNS servers doesn't necessarily mean the website is hosted there. The WHOIS service allows us to verify that the domain is registered and view the name servers where the website's IP address is set.

2. Determining the IP Address of the Website's Hosting Server

To determine the domain's IP address, we will use the ping command. In Linux, this command also shows the reverse zone (PTR) of the IP address.

ping mydomain.tld

PING mydomain.tld (89.111.187.200) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from hosting.synay.net (89.111.187.200): icmp_seq=1 ttl=50 time=23.1 ms
64 bytes from hosting.synay.net (89.111.187.200): icmp_seq=2 ttl=50 time=37.6 ms

Note: On one hand, you can directly use the ping command without WHOIS, but it’s better to follow the sequence described here. The domain may not respond to the ping command if it is not set up or simply not registered.

Example 1. You were given a domain and asked to find the site because it is not working. First, it’s better to check if the domain is registered and in an active state (not expired). If the domain's DNS servers are not configured, the ping command will not return the server's IP address.

Note. The owner might not have renewed the domain, and it was deleted and purchased by someone else. In this case, you need to check for the domain's availability in your personal account.

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