Hosting Inspector
Identify the hosting provider, full IPv4/IPv6 footprint, reverse DNS, CDN edge, and HTTP/2/3 readiness behind any URL.
What is a Hosting Inspector?
A hosting inspector tells you where a website is physically running. Given a URL it resolves the domain's IP records, reverse-resolves each one, matches the result against a curated provider taxonomy (AWS, GCP, Azure, Cloudflare, DigitalOcean, Hetzner, OVH, GoDaddy, Bluehost, and more), and reports the hosting provider, hosting type (cloud / CDN / shared / dedicated), and the full IP topology of the deployment.
HTTPSense's Hosting Inspector goes beyond the primary IP. It enumerates every A and AAAA record, runs reverse DNS on each, counts unique /24 subnets, detects the CDN edge from response headers, captures the negotiated HTTP version, and produces a 0–100 score with an A–F grade reflecting modern hosting hygiene — IPv6 readiness, multi-region footprint, HTTP/2 or HTTP/3, and CDN posture.
How to Use the Hosting Inspector
- Enter a URL in the search bar and click Inspect Hosting.
- Review the Overview tab for the hosting score, grade, and insights grouped by severity.
- Switch to Network for the hosting provider, primary IP, reverse DNS, server header, and HTTP version.
- Open CDN to see the edge provider chain (e.g. Cloudflare in front of AWS) with header evidence.
- Click IPs for a complete table of every A and AAAA record with per-IP reverse DNS — the data point that makes anycast and multi-region deployments visible.
- Use the Raw tab to copy the full JSON for downstream automation.
How the Hosting Inspector Works
On submission we follow redirects to a canonical URL, then run two cache-aware sub-engines in parallel: a Header inspection (response headers, server, HTTP version, CDN edge markers) and a DNS inspection (every A, AAAA, NS, MX, and TXT record). Both writes are persisted as per-tool snapshots so the next request — from any tool — can rehydrate them without an extra network call.
Once both signal sources are collected, the engine reverse-resolves every IPv4 and IPv6 address concurrently, runs the provider rules against the primary reverse DNS, classifies the hosting type, counts unique /24 subnets, and emits a list of insights covering IPv6 readiness, HTTP/2 / HTTP/3 negotiation, multi-region topology, and CDN presence.
Hosting detection is domain-level — every URL on the same domain shares the same hosting and CDN.
Key Features
- Per-IP reverse DNS — Every A and AAAA record resolved with PTR, not just the primary IP.
- Hosting type classification — Cloud, CDN, shared, dedicated, or unknown — based on the matched provider rule.
- IPv6 readiness signal — Explicit pass/fail with the AAAA record count.
- Multi-region topology — Unique /24 subnet count surfaces anycast and geo-distributed deployments.
- CDN chain detection — Stacked edges (e.g. Cloudflare in front of CloudFront) are listed in detection order with header evidence.
- HTTP/2 & HTTP/3 surfacing — The negotiated transport is reported and scored.
- 0–100 score with A–F grade — Single-glance hosting hygiene metric.
- Cache-aware orchestration — Reuses fresh Header / DNS snapshots from other tools so a Hosting lookup costs at most one network round-trip per sub-engine.
Common Use Cases
- Sales engineering — Identify prospects on AWS / GCP / Azure / Cloudflare for targeted outreach.
- Migration planning — Verify a domain has cut over to a new provider after a DNS change, including all A and AAAA records.
- Resilience audits — Confirm multi-region IP footprint and CDN posture for production sites.
- IPv6 readiness — Sweep a portfolio of domains for AAAA coverage.
- Competitive intelligence — See whose CDN, cloud, or shared host a competitor relies on.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is the Hosting Inspector different from the Tech Stack Inspector?
Tech Stack Inspector covers the full set of technologies behind a site — frameworks, CMS, analytics, JavaScript libraries, and more. Hosting Inspector is a focused projection answering only "where does this live?": hosting provider, IP topology with per-IP reverse DNS, CDN, HTTP/2/3 readiness, and a hosting-specific score.
How is the hosting provider identified?
The reverse DNS of the resolved IPv4 address is matched against a curated provider rule set (AWS, GCP, Azure, Cloudflare, DigitalOcean, Hetzner, OVH, GoDaddy, Bluehost, and more). If no rule matches, we report the provider as Unknown rather than guess.
Why does the IPs tab show more addresses than the primary IP?
The primary IP is the first address resolved during the technology fingerprint. The IPs tab resolves every A and AAAA record and runs reverse DNS on each, so multi-region anycast and dual-stack deployments are fully visible.
What does the score mean?
The 0–100 score rewards modern hosting practices: IPv6 readiness, multi-IP / multi-subnet topology, HTTP/2 or HTTP/3, and the presence of a CDN edge. A site that scores well is generally fast, resilient, and reachable from IPv6-only networks.
Does it work for sites behind a CDN?
Yes. When a CDN is detected, the request never reaches the origin and the hosting provider often resolves to the CDN itself (e.g. Cloudflare). The CDN tab and insights make this explicit.
Is it free? Do I need to sign up?
Yes, the Hosting Inspector is free with no signup or API key.