What my domain name resolves to?

[ACVMF]

AS OF JANUARY 2 2025

Was in process of switching to Scala until I had to explain to L2 support what a domain name server does. They could not tell me exactly what my domain name resolves to, would just tell me to use their domain name server. After several hours of trying to get them to tell me I finally began cancellation. I was using Advanced may be different if I bought entry cloud. Would like to hear from any of you using entry cloud plan on Scala.

FROM SITEGROUND IN ANSWER TO JOOMLA 5 SUPPORT --- Hello! Currently, we support Joomla! 3.x and Joomla! 4.x, as indicated by the versions you have installed on your account. Joomla! 5 is not yet supported. For more information on Joomla!, you can refer to our tutorials https://my.siteground.com/support/tutorials/joomla/ If you have any specific questions or need assistance with your current Joomla! installations, feel free to ask!

[Webdongle]

@ACVMF

They answered your question correctly. But either you didn't let them explain why or you misunderstood their explanation.

Hosts are tag Holders each with their own servers, so the answer to your question
"They could not tell me exactly what my domain name resolves to?"
is: It resolves to the ip address that the Host/tag Holder/Registrar that registered your Domain name (unless you pointed it elsewhere).

If you keep your Domain registration with Siteground but use Scala to Host your files then you need to point your Domain to Scala's Domain Name server.

If you are not transferring (your Domain) into a new Host then the question you need to ask the new Host is:
'What are the ip addresses of your main and secondary Domain name servers?'

Bottom line
They answered your question correctly but you didn't get the answer you wanted because you asked the wrong question.

[ACVMF]

I understand you, thank you. And you may be correct about the question I asked, but they still should have understood what I wanted to know.

We have been been using Siteground with a dedicated IP for 11 years or so. When we started very small, we ran our site on a Novell Netware server in our office. We purchased our domain at NoIP and used their DDNS and name servers. As we grew we moved our site to Siteground but we continue to leave our domain record at NoIP and use their Name Servers. This has been working well and it is easy to switch our site to other locations when we wanted to temporarily.

When we began the process of moving to Scala, and were not going to have a dedicated IP, we wanted to know what our site name resolved to so we could do testing on scala without dinking with hosts files on our PCs' or changing the sites name servers back and forth. Seemed like a simple matter to me.

Scala did give the ip addresses of their name servers but since we were not purchasing a plan with a dedicated ip address we had no way of knowing how to get to our site with just an ip address as we are used to doing without knowing what our site resolved to by the names servers scala told us to use.

After going round and round explaining what we were asking for they could not understand and insisted we had to use their name server to reach the site. That is when I gave up on them.

Now I wonder if the level of support I was getting had a clue how name servers work. For that matter maybe I don't either but this I know, Name servers have to resolve a domain name to something and all I wanted was to know what that something is.

If we purchased a plan with a dedicated ip address, assuming they aren't doing something with the ip, then I would think typing the ip address in the address bar of my browser would take me to our site without using the domain name. I have posed that question to Scala but they have not replied. If they don't make it clear we will be forced to continue the cancellation request.

If I am missing something I am all ears and you will not offend me for helping me understand where I am mistaken about any of this, rather I gladly welcome the correction.

Thank you!

David

[gsmela]

@ACVMF - Every hosting service I've used in the past 30 years has had a control panel that includes basic information including ftp address, etc. They've also included an address where you could access your site before dns propagated - something like https://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/~youraccount (The tilde and your account are a fairly common standard.) Is there nothing in your "welcoming letter" or control panel - in Scala's case, "Spanel" that has such information?

[phil_roy]

Perhaps start a new thread about this? You seem to be talking about anything but SiteGround?

[ACVMF]

@ACVMF - Every hosting service I've used in the past 30 years has had a control panel that includes basic information including ftp address, etc. They've also included an address where you could access your site before dns propagated - something like https://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/~youraccount (The tilde and your account are a fairly common standard.) Is there nothing in your "welcoming letter" or control panel - in Scala's case, "Spanel" that has such information?

Before we start a new thread for clarity sake Yes, Thank you, glad someone here understands what I asked for. You nailed it. what you stated

They've also included an address where you could access your site before dns propagated - something like https://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/~youraccount

That Is all I was asking for but they would not give it and it is not in the control panel.

I am fine if a moderator wants to split this off to a Scala Thread

( Added Note: Now that I have cancelled the account, I found what I was asking for finally showed up on their site- in the control panel http://174.136.57.205//home/our_site. This just proves to me that the Level 2 support over there is lacking and they lost a customer because of it.... SAD!)

David

[ACVMF]

Perhaps start a new thread about this? You seem to be talking about anything but SiteGround?

Yeah sorry, it did get off topic, guess because so many people were running to scala from sg-

[Webdongle]

...
We have been been using Siteground with a dedicated IP for 11 years or so. When we started very small, we ran our site on a Novell Netware server in our office. We purchased our domain at NoIP and used their DDNS and name servers. As we grew we moved our site to Siteground but we continue to leave our domain record at NoIP and use their Name Servers. ...

Ah, I see your confusion.

When yo moved Host from NoIP to Siteground then somehow you must have redirected your Domain to Siteground. If you put your DomainName.tld in https://centralops.net/co/ you will see who's Domain Name Server your Domain resolves to afaik Siteground servers).

If you change Host's then you will need to login to NoIP (DNS settings) and point the ip's of the Primary and secondary servers of the new Host. The other DNS servers around the world will update. After that (when someone puts your url in the browser) their isp's DNS will then direct the browser request to the servers that belong to your new Host.

If a potential Host will not tell you the ip's of their Primary and secondary servers then they are probably trying to get you to 'transfer in' your Domain.

[ACVMF]

You are partly correct, I have not moved my web host I added Scala and was testing while keeping Siteground, My domain name host is still No-Ip .com - Name Servers Ns1 thru 5 which continually pointed to our Ip address on siteground.

During the testing period all I needed to do was enter http://174.136.57.205//home/our_site in the browser address bar, but I did not have the information for both ip address and the path until a wee bit ago. They insisted I had to use a name server. That is wrong. As far as what I needed to do where my domain name is hosted was to use a re-direct, simple. Done that hundreds of times.

I could easily point my domain name to your sight that way if I wanted to (and without your permission or assistance or knowledge), which is why I leave my domain name hosted at no IP. I can send my domain's website to anywhere I have the files hosted in the world as long as I know the ip address and path with a quick change in destination as long as I am using No-Ip Name servers.

After my testing was done I would have entered Scala's Domain Name servers at my domain name hosts site.

I have done this with domain names for 20 years. If I want my domain name to go to usnavy.com, I can have it done in less than 2 minutes. In my view and seemingly by my experience The Scala L2 techs are under trained as low level basic computer support people following a script.

...
We have been been using Siteground with a dedicated IP for 11 years or so. When we started very small, we ran our site on a Novell Netware server in our office. We purchased our domain at NoIP and used their DDNS and name servers. As we grew we moved our site to Siteground but we continue to leave our domain record at NoIP and use their Name Servers. ...

Ah, I see your confusion.

When yo moved Host from NoIP to Siteground then somehow you must have redirected your Domain to Siteground. If you put your DomainName.tld in https://centralops.net/co/ you will see who's Domain Name Server your Domain resolves to afaik Siteground servers).

If you change Host's then you will need to login to NoIP (DNS settings) and point the ip's of the Primary and secondary servers of the new Host. The other DNS servers around the world will update. After that (when someone puts your url in the browser) their isp's DNS will then direct the browser request to the servers that belong to your new Host.

If a potential Host will not tell you the ip's of their Primary and secondary servers then they are probably trying to get you to 'transfer in' your Domain.

[Webdongle]

So you have your website files on several Host's with your Domain pointed To various servers?
When you test do the site files have a difference so you know which Host's DNS is being reached by a visiting browser?

[ACVMF]

I had previously installed Joomla 4 in a sub-directory on our site but had not developed it.

I just decided to try upgrading it to 5. Before I did, I had 4 upgraded to the latest version then followed all the instructions from Joomla on checking host site compatibility and followed the joomla prompts to perform the upgrade to 5.

It went very smooth, so now I have a bare Joomla 5 site ready to be developed. The latest message from Siteground BOT states:

While Joomla 5 may technically install and run on SiteGround servers, we officially support Joomla 3.x and 4.x to ensure optimal performance and security. If Joomla 5 is working for you, that's great, but please be aware that our support and resources are tailored for Joomla 3.x and 4.x. If you encounter any issues, you might need to refer to Joomla's official documentation or community for specific Joomla 5 support.

Many of you probably already knew this but for those who are stuck waiting .... Since 4 is nearing EOL this may work for us until Siteground gets their act together.