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Domain Cheat Sheet

Updated

Domain Cheat Sheet

Find everything you need to know about a domain. Note: Using ‘nisswa.com’ for all examples.

How to find the DNS host for a domain:

  1. Use Whois.com ( https://www.whois.com/ ). The site doesn’t plainly say who is the DNS host but displays where the Nameservers are pointed. This determines who the DNS host is. Example - https://www.whois.com/whois/nisswa.com
    1. See here where it tells you where the nameservers are pointing to - https://www.screencast.com/t/gNazMrRIPBQ
    2. Below is a guide that shows which nameservers is the DNS host.
      1. GZ Rackspace Nameservers:
        dns1.stabletransit.com
        dns2.stabletransit.com
      2. GZ LiquidWeb Nameservers:
        ns.liquidweb.com
        ns1.liquidweb.com
      3. GZ Cloudflare Nameservers:
        dan.ns.cloudflare.com
        dahlia.ns.cloudflare.com
      4. Some common DNS hosts and their nameservers below.
        GoDaddy
        nsXX.domaincontrol.com
        nsXX.domaincontrol.com
      5. Network Solutions
        nsXX.worldnic.com
        nsXX.worldnic.com
      6. HostGator
        nsXXXX.hostgator.com
        nsXXXX.hostgator.com
      7. 1and1
        nsXXXX.ui-dns.com
      8. DNS Made Easy
        nsXX.dnsmadeeasy.com
        nsXX.dnsmadeeasy.com
      9. NameCheap
        dnsXX.registrar-servers.com
        dnsXX.registrar-servers.com
      10. BlueHost
        nsXX.bluehost.com
  2. Use MX Toolbox DNS Lookup ( https://mxtoolbox.com/DnsLookup.aspx ). This tells you which platform is the DNS host. Example - https://mxtoolbox.com/SuperTool.aspx?action=a%3anisswa.com&run=toolpage
    1. Here is where it tells you who the DNS host is - https://www.screencast.com/t/ftUENH5tlNUl

Why this is important: We need to know and have access to customer’s DNS host for integrations and launches.

 

Find DNS history of a domain:

  1. Use Security Trails ( https://securitytrails.com/dns-trails ). This platform gives you the historical data of a domain. Example - https://securitytrails.com/domain/nisswa.com/history/a
    1. This section gives you the History of any DNS records - https://www.screencast.com/t/1N9hX1fMUH
    2. **Note: you will have to create an account, but it is free.

Why this is important: Mainly for troubleshooting. Can see when a domain had their DNS host changed or if an A record’s IP address was changed.

 

How to find what CMS a domain is using:

  1. Use What CMS ( https://whatcms.org/ ). This will tell you the CMS (Content Management System) the domain is using. It will also tell you the Web Server the website is using (if using a CMS). Example - https://whatcms.org/?s=www.nisswa.com
    1. Here is where it lets you know what CMS the domain is using - https://www.screencast.com/t/GNBvMjPi
  2. Use Built With ( https://builtwith.com/ ). Like WhatCMS but gives you a lot more information. It will tell you what CMS the domain is using along with the version of the CMS, widgets, and plugins. Example - https://builtwith.com/nisswa.com
    1. Here is where you see what CMS the domain is using - https://www.screencast.com/t/nmiHKIGyhLj

Why this is important: Mainly for integrations. We need to know what CMS a domain uses to determine if our integration will work with the CMS/Website.

 

How to find who the Website Host of a domain:

  1. Use Hosting Checker ( https://hostingchecker.com/ ). This will find the Web host of a domain.
    1. Using Nisswcom as the example, you can see who the Web host here - https://www.screencast.com/t/StKbbbYx (US Internet Corp/WordPress) is the host for GZCMS.

Why this is important: Mainly for integrations and CORS issues. If integration is having CORS issues (fonts not loading on module pages) and website uses a different Web server than Apache, customer needs to contact their Web Host to enable CORS.

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