Identify Origin of Server Host

Hi,

Is it possible to identify if a UK based company hosts there website on a foreign server, e.g in the U.S and if so how do I do this?

Thanks

Jimbob

 

Yes, it is possible to find the server location from the server IP address.

Kailash

 

Thanks,

How do I do that?

Jimbob

 

Just take your server IP address and enter it in ip2location.com, you will get the server location.

Kailash

 

Hi,

How do I identify the server IP address of one of my competitors websites?

Thanks

 

http://www.whois.sc

Enter their domain in there, and look through what comes up. It will show you the IP address and a little country flag on the left hand side of it. From there, you can whois, reverse IP, etc the IP address for more information.

 

I use this: one stop shop for all you need...
http://www.wmtips.com/tools/info/
also google "ip location detect" you'll discover many sites which gives detailed info about such stuff...

 

Hi,

This is really useful and I have discovered that one of my UK based competitors is hosted on a server in the US.

Are there any pros and cons for a UK based ecommerce business to have their site hosted on a US based server?

Jimbob

 

It doesnt make any difference as its the back end activity, nobody knows and cares where the datacentre or hosting company is located.
It could make few mili-seconds of difference with respect to the location of server.

In my case I am located in India, But majority of my visitors are Americans therefore I have US based hosting service. It hardly matters in SEO by the way.

Also it matters in legal issues, as local laws applies & you got to abide them.

 

So the fact that I am hosted on a UK server and not a US one won't make any difference to my SERP's or my ability to be increase the number of US visitors to my site.

We sell worldwide, but particularly want to increase visits from the US via organic search engine results.

Jimbob

 

Its cheaper, or rather was before the pound collapsed against the dollar.

However while it was (and still may be) cheaper, sending data transatlantic is on the whole slower than sending data within the UK. Of course most people wont really notice it but it can cause issues for people viewing the site, although US visitors would see the site quicker.

There are other disadvantages, with the data held on a US server the accessing of that data could come under some US laws as well as UK laws, such as the US governments ability to access that data under the Patriot act. Although if your selling in the US there may be US laws you would have to follow anyway.

Also just because the hosting company you go with is UK based, it doesn't actually mean their servers will be.

Jen

 

Jen is right - some UK based hosts use servers in the US anyway.