What is the service that shows you a server on a map?

November 12, 2006 4:50 PM

What is the name/URL of the tool that allows you to see a physical map of where a domain name's server is?

I recall seeing this summer a service/tool (maybe even Firefox extension) that you input a domain name into and it would, based on IP, locate where the server is and show it on a map. I believe it was a Google Map based tool, because it showed you a map and gave the option of satellite view too. I have tried at least 15 different Google searches and gone through the first few pages of results for each without finding it. Thanks for the help!

posted by criticman to computers & internet (10 comments total)

Geobytes?
posted by Addlepated at 5:06 PM on November 12, 2006

Nope. That isn't too far off though. The main difference is it uses a Google Map and puts the point on the map (just as Google marks locations in the standard Map pages) and gives you the satellite view too.

I should note this has to do with a dispute we are having with our mail provider. So on that note, if anyone has any reliable servers in California that I can ping and tracert to compare results to our provider, that would be awesome!
posted by criticman at 5:17 PM on November 12, 2006

Okay, still haven't found the solution I wanted, but here are two options:
http://www.hostip.info/
http://www.seomoz.org/ip2loc/ip2loc.php

They got me an answer I needed, but I still would like to find the one I saw this summer - it was 100% free and was more polished than these offerings.
posted by criticman at 5:21 PM on November 12, 2006

Just googling for Google Maps tracert brought up a bunch of options for me.

Here's one.
posted by ElfWord at 5:39 PM on November 12, 2006

Good search query. Wasn't really looking for true tracert though. And at quick scan of results, not the one I'm looking for yet.
posted by criticman at 5:49 PM on November 12, 2006

dnsstuff.com has plenty along those lines but you should be aware that all such geolocation methods are very rough estimations, and often are completely and totally wrong. Never put much faith in the results.
posted by Rhomboid at 6:18 PM on November 12, 2006

Yeah, most of these are totally incorrect. Every single "IP location" service shows me as being over 100 miles from where I actually am, and it shows my hosted web server as being in Texas when it's actually in Virginia.

My old IP block from a T1 I had showed up in New York. The T1 was near San Francisco.

GeoIP/etc suck.
posted by drstein at 8:17 PM on November 12, 2006

Shazou? (addons.mozilla.org page) page

With pictures here

It is Google Maps based, does show your server location (not necessarily accurately), and Domain owner's address.
posted by Boobus Tuber at 3:19 AM on November 13, 2006

I rigged up something like this as a proof-of-concept myspace tracker awhile back. Here are the folks that looked at my profile during the period that i had it running. Please note that these are NOT necessarily accurate representations of the physical geography of the individual viewers, just the geographical locations to which the IPs resolved. Let me know if you want the source....
posted by casconed at 10:49 AM on November 13, 2006

Alright, then how can I confirm server locations? Each of the IP geolocate services I tried had the same results, but as mentioned by others, they could be wrong. I need a way to prove to our email provider that our ping and tracert results to other hosts in California are not as poor as those to our host.

Any ideas?
posted by criticman at 5:45 AM on November 14, 2006