Why does one website use several IP addresses?¶

A website can use several IP addresses to spread demand, remain available during failures or deliver content from locations nearer to its users.

How the result can vary¶

DNS may return several addresses at once or rotate the answer. A large provider may give different results according to the user’s location, DNS resolver, time or network conditions. Separate hostnames can also serve the main page, login, images, payments and downloads.

Think of a national business with several depots. The same company name can direct customers to different premises without becoming a different business each time.

The addresses may belong to different networks because the service uses a cloud provider, content-delivery network or backup supplier. Conversely, an address seen today may not have served the site during the event being examined.

Record the exact hostname - not only the main domain - along with the returned address, date, time, time zone, lookup method and source. This allows another person to understand why a different lookup may produce a different answer.

Multiple addresses can explain the site’s architecture and identify several possible evidence holders. They should not automatically be treated as separate sites, operators or suspects.