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I want to say the following in german

I want to redirect the address xxx.domain.de to the server xyz.domain.de

Is the use of umbiegen nach correct in this case?

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In which dictionary did you read that? – feeela Sep 19 '11 at 18:58
@feeela: In no dictionary, I heard it used. – Eldros Sep 20 '11 at 4:15

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up vote 12 down vote accepted

"umbiegen" is possible, but somewhat colloquial in my opinion.

The most direct translation (and a common one as well) would be "umleiten":

Ich will die Adresse xxx.domain.de auf den Server xyz.domain.de umleiten.

Regarding the proposition I'd say it's a tricky question:

If you focus on the address xyz.domain.de then I'd say "auf xyz.domain.de umleiten".

If the important part is that the server called xyz.domain.de will handle it, then I'd say "zu xyz.domain.de umleiten" or even "zum Server xyz.domain.de" umleiten.

Unfortunately that's just my intuition as a native speaker, so I can't tell you the appropriate rules for this.

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1  
In my ears, "umbiegen" sounds rather strange in this context, not just somewhat colloquial. – Hendrik Vogt Sep 19 '11 at 15:45
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@Hendrik: I've heard it used a few times with this exact meaning (I work as a software developer), but I wouldn't write it to a customer/client or in any other professional communication. – Joachim Sauer Sep 19 '11 at 15:47
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@Eldros: My remark was based only on my personal/professional experience in the IT area including IT reading material, and I have never heard of translating "redirection of a web adress" to "umbiegen", but of course that might be pure chance. Network traffic is something that flows, hence the phrase "umleiten" seems to be a much more natural choice than "umbiegen" (bending is used for non-flowing things like steel bars). – Ray Sep 21 '11 at 10:27
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@Ray: If you see the internet as a series of tubes, "umbiegen" might actually fit very well :) – OregonGhost Sep 22 '11 at 20:07
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@OregonGhost: ... and if you see the internet as a series of beautiful flowers, "umtopfen" might fit very well, too ;) If you search google for "webadresse umbiegen" you get zero results and the suggestion to search for "webadresse umleiten" instead, but if you want to emphasize the pointer (and not the traffic) you will get some hits with "link umbiegen" (though not as much as with "umleiten"). Anyway, everyone is free to use his favorite expressions. Language is a creative thing and that is the fun part about it. – Ray Sep 23 '11 at 9:53
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