Same URL but no www gives different sites?

rahl · 22nd August 2005, 1:28 PM

Why do http://alloys.com.au and http://www.alloys.com.au take me to different sites?

I've noticed this a couple of other times and I don't understand how different entities can use the same domain name.

Spingo · 22nd August 2005, 1:36 PM

It's quite simple - the www.alloys.com.au A record in DNS is slightly different to the alloys.com.au A record. They both point to different IP addresses, which could indicate that both sites are on different servers, but since the IP's are adjacent, I have a feeling that the same server is hosting both sites. Even if they had the same IP though, most web servers can spit out different pages depending on the host header sent to the server (i.e, depending which url you enter in yoru browser window).

It could be that two different parties are entitled to the domain name and are sharing it in that manner - though it would be interesting which organisation emails destined for alloy.com.au are delivered to...

Wizardx8 · 22nd August 2005, 1:57 PM

I imagine the version without the www used to own the site and sold the name to the current www.alloys.com.au company.

The old company has now taken http://www.alloysint.com.au

goodlet · 22nd August 2005, 2:35 PM

I don't know much about this, but I would guess, when you put a request in with the "www". It would keep forwarding the request for the DNS until it gets to a www dns server.

So for example, say if it was just, typed in google.com, your ISP could just resolve it for you in their cache. But if you typed www.google.com in it would check with a world wide web dns servers?

I dunno. I havern't looked it up myself. But I have noticed that some sites with or without the www take me to different places.

greebs · 22nd August 2005, 3:21 PM

Because alloys.com.au and www.alloys.com.au are not the same thing. In this case, they point to different ip addresses:

alloys.com.au. 86400 IN A 202.44.175.60
www.alloys.com.au. 86362 IN A 202.44.175.61

Most people will have the 2 A records pointing at the same ip/site, but it's not uncommon to see them different (perhaps they moved servers to 202.44.175.61 and changed the www record, but forgot the parent).

Gumby · 22nd August 2005, 5:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goodlet

I don't know much about this, but I would guess, when you put a request in with the "www". It would keep forwarding the request for the DNS until it gets to a www dns server.

So for example, say if it was just, typed in google.com, your ISP could just resolve it for you in their cache. But if you typed www.google.com in it would check with a world wide web dns servers?

I dunno. I havern't looked it up myself. But I have noticed that some sites with or without the www take me to different places.

Nope.

Its just the webservers setup to handle alloys.com.au differently to www.alloys.com.au

Hohne · 22nd August 2005, 5:07 PM

And overclockers.com.au is different to forums.overclockers.com.au.... so.....

www is just another subdomain.

The most common reason to have them forward to different servers is to have all your mail handled by an internal webserver, while you have your website hosted externally at say, webcentral....

So you could have www.company.com.au directed to a server at webcentral;
And company.com.au (as in emails addressed to someone@company.com.au) directed to your exchange server at your office.

rahl · 22nd August 2005, 6:09 PM

OK, thanks. I now understand how the two can resolve to different IP's but how can two different businesses be using the same .com.au domain? Wouldn't the powers that be (auDA?) prevent that? I would be pissed if I owned xyz.com.au and a competitor was using www.xyz.com.au

Another example is http://www.batteryworld.com.au/ and http://batteryworld.com.au/. The first leads to Battery World while the second leads to Century Batteries, two businesses apparently in competition with each other.

edit: Battery World is owned by Century so I guess the dual use is reasonable.

Quote:

Battery World Australia Pty Ltd, as a wholly owned subsidiary of Century Yuasa Batteries Pty Ltd, has access to the full range of product available from what is regarded as one of the top manufacturers of lead-acid batteries in Australia, plus the technical backup, marketing experience and distribution network of this vast and solid organisation.

edit 2: It seems Alloys are the same company too, just different divisions. Seems a stupid way to differentiate their sites.

Gumby · 22nd August 2005, 6:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rahl

I would be pissed if I owned xyz.com.au and a competitor was using www.xyz.com.au

Can't happen.

Someone owns the xyz.com.au domain and control all use of the subdomains.

22nd August 2005, 1:28 PM	#1
rahl Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Baffle Creek, Queensland Posts: 451	Same URL but no www gives different sites? Why do http://alloys.com.au and http://www.alloys.com.au take me to different sites? I've noticed this a couple of other times and I don't understand how different entities can use the same domain name.

22nd August 2005, 1:36 PM	#2
Spingo Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: At night, rave near the guards compartment, naked, with a blue light Posts: 1,047	It's quite simple - the www.alloys.com.au A record in DNS is slightly different to the alloys.com.au A record. They both point to different IP addresses, which could indicate that both sites are on different servers, but since the IP's are adjacent, I have a feeling that the same server is hosting both sites. Even if they had the same IP though, most web servers can spit out different pages depending on the host header sent to the server (i.e, depending which url you enter in yoru browser window). It could be that two different parties are entitled to the domain name and are sharing it in that manner - though it would be interesting which organisation emails destined for alloy.com.au are delivered to... __________________ This is the noise that keeps me awake...

22nd August 2005, 2:35 PM	#4
goodlet Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Western Australia Posts: 1,677	I don't know much about this, but I would guess, when you put a request in with the "www". It would keep forwarding the request for the DNS until it gets to a www dns server. So for example, say if it was just, typed in google.com, your ISP could just resolve it for you in their cache. But if you typed www.google.com in it would check with a world wide web dns servers? I dunno. I havern't looked it up myself. But I have noticed that some sites with or without the www take me to different places. __________________ Good Trades: jomo, n00by, s4mmy, browca04, 838 La, fergs,

22nd August 2005, 1:57 PM	#3
Wizardx8 Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Singapore Posts: 2,386	I imagine the version without the www used to own the site and sold the name to the current www.alloys.com.au company. The old company has now taken http://www.alloysint.com.au

22nd August 2005, 3:21 PM	#5
greebs Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Melbourne Posts: 648	Because alloys.com.au and www.alloys.com.au are not the same thing. In this case, they point to different ip addresses: alloys.com.au. 86400 IN A 202.44.175.60 www.alloys.com.au. 86362 IN A 202.44.175.61 Most people will have the 2 A records pointing at the same ip/site, but it's not uncommon to see them different (perhaps they moved servers to 202.44.175.61 and changed the www record, but forgot the parent).

22nd August 2005, 5:07 PM	#7
Hohne Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 963	And overclockers.com.au is different to forums.overclockers.com.au.... so..... www is just another subdomain. The most common reason to have them forward to different servers is to have all your mail handled by an internal webserver, while you have your website hosted externally at say, webcentral.... So you could have www.company.com.au directed to a server at webcentral; And company.com.au (as in emails addressed to someone@company.com.au) directed to your exchange server at your office.