# How can I find out the "real" host domain of a site with domain masking?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-find-out-the-real-host-domain-of-a-site-with-domain-masking/305177>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 23, 2005, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-find-out-the-real-host-domain-of-a-site-with-domain-masking/305177 "2005-05-23T22:28:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-find-out-the-real-host-domain-of-a-site-with-domain-masking/305177/1 "2005-05-23T22:28:41Z")

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If a site has domain masking, is there a way to tell where it is really being hosted?

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**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-find-out-the-real-host-domain-of-a-site-with-domain-masking/305177/2 "2005-05-23T23:07:49Z")

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“Domain masking” is market-speak for a proxy server. The only way to find out the final destination is by examining the proxy’s configuration.

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**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-find-out-the-real-host-domain-of-a-site-with-domain-masking/305177/3 "2005-05-23T23:14:34Z")

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> [@friedo](#):
>
> “Domain masking” is market-speak for a proxy server. The only way to find out the final destination is by examining the proxy’s configuration.

so you’re saying that i can’t do it.

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**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-find-out-the-real-host-domain-of-a-site-with-domain-masking/305177/4 "2005-05-23T23:25:45Z")

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i thought of something: I can ping the domain name and see where the IP address takes me, right?

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**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-find-out-the-real-host-domain-of-a-site-with-domain-masking/305177/5 "2005-05-23T23:29:00Z")

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Pinging the domain would simply return the IP of the proxy.