# Help me Determine Physical Location of Server

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-determine-physical-location-of-server/205723>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 5, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-determine-physical-location-of-server/205723 "2003-10-05T16:36:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![lucwarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@lucwarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucwarm)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-determine-physical-location-of-server/205723/1 "2003-10-05T16:36:25Z")

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I would like to figure out where a server is actually located. I know the name of the web site.

Any thoughts?

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**Author:** ![Roches](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bc8723/32.png) [@Roches](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roches)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-determine-physical-location-of-server/205723/2 "2003-10-05T16:41:40Z")

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Try [VisualRoute](http://visualroute.visualware.com/). There are, I think, other visual traceroute applications that show the ‘hops’ traveled by a connection on a map.

The oldschool method of finding the geographic location of a server is **whois** , which often also gives the name of the server admin and some other information (such as the company that owns a domain). **Finger** , a similar protocol, displays information about a server. Finger and whois are largely obsolete now, but they still exist and you should be able to find clients for them.

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**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-determine-physical-location-of-server/205723/3 "2003-10-05T16:47:48Z")

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You can use traceroute and work your way back by looking hard at each step in the route, but it’s time-consuming.

You can also try networldmap:

[http://www.networldmap.com/TryIt.htm?GetLocation&Template=demo.htm](http://www.networldmap.com/TryIt.htm?GetLocation&Template=demo.htm)

Just fill in the IP address in the box.

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**Author:** ![dylan\_73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecccb3/32.png) [@dylan\_73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dylan_73)\
**Post date:** [October 6, 2003, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-determine-physical-location-of-server/205723/4 "2003-10-06T11:30:09Z")

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heh…when I read the subject I thought you had a problem like [this!](http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20010409S0012)