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Say I own a domain, www.exmaple.com. Can I monitor/capture the files that were downloaded from my domain by other visitors/users? Is so - how? Otherwise - is there any other entity (e.g. the registrar) who has an access to such information?

Thanks!

Yehonatan Cohen
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2 Answers2

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Yes. Yes they can... But technically the domain and the hosting are two separate things. You'd monitor that on the server using server-logs or a graphic interface.

domain = address / po-box & hosting = house.

admcfajn
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  • Thanks a lot! Do most of the domain owners host their domains on machines they own? How common is it to store a domain on an "external" server? – Yehonatan Cohen May 19 '17 at 05:41
  • No problem, and most people use an 'external' server, for both domains & hosting. This is because they could have a power outtage; whereas, large datacenters have generations, redundancy and all that good stuff. – admcfajn May 19 '17 at 05:43
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No. Files cannot be downloaded from domains, only from servers which are a separate concept altogether.

FYI:

  • you can download a file from a server that has no domain name assigned to it
  • you can download a file from a server which does have a domain name assigned to it
  • you cannot download a file from a domain name such as "example.com" which has no server assigned it (i.e. a newly bought domain name)
    • a domain is just a pointer to a server

A domain name does not necessarily have to be owned by the same entity that controls the server it points to. For example, five of my friends could each own a domain name, name-of-friend.com, and then point it to my server where I host and maintain their website. They would technically own the domain name but only I the server operator would be able to observe any traffic to/from the server.

All requests go specifically to my server where logging capabilities in the website server software and the operating system keep track of who has downloaded certain files that I host (often by logging the IP address of the visitor).

The registrar is only responsible for reserving and selling domain names. I'm not required, not is it necessary, to give them access to my server.

3m3x
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