page content: What is Whois, Reading and understanding the whois search results. Whois Privacy protection

What is Whois

Whois (pronounced like the question "who is") is a question-response protocol for determining the registered owners of Internet resources, most commonly of domain names.

Reading the whois search results

Whois queries are available to anyone for free on many sites, usually <domain name registrars> who offer whois searches as part of their service. These sites often return only the most general information about the domain name, plus a lead to another whois server where more complete information can be found. This two-tiered search mechanism helps to manage the billions of existing domain names without encumbering whois servers to the point of collapse.

Running a query about Amazon.com, for example, returns the following result:

 

          1. Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
            Whois Server: whois.networksolutions.com
          2. Referral URL: http://www.networksolutions.com
          3. Name Server: UDNS1.ULTRADNS.NET
            Name Server: UDNS2.ULTRADNS.NET
          4. Status: clientDeleteProhibited
            Status: clientTransferProhibite
            Status: clientUpdateProhibite
            Updated Date: 11-nov-2009
          5. Creation Date: 01-nov-1994
          6. Expiration Date: 31-oct-2019

 

  1. The registrar is the company through which the site owner registered the domain name.
  2. The referral URL allows you to follow through with a more detailed whois query at that address.
  3. Whois requests return the addresses of top-level <DNS servers> for the domain name. This is a good way to see if your own DNS servers are defined well for your domain name; otherwise, this information is of little use.
  4. The status lines describe the current state of the domain name. In this example, the Amazon.com domain name is valid and locked against any changes. Other statuses imply the domain has expired but is being reserved in case of late renewal (status REDEMPTIONPERIOD), or that the domain has expired and not been reclaimed, and will soon be released for public purchase (status PENDINGDELETE).
  5. The Creation Date is the first time this domain name has been registered in the current run, i.e. without being deleted and re-created. The date is reset upon re-creation.
  6. In order to retain this domain name, the registrant must renew it by the expiration date. The domain will be held in reserve for 30 days after the expiration date, during which the registrant may reclaim it. Afterwards, it will be released back to public availability.

None of these results show the complete contact details for Amazon.com, though. That information can be found in the deeper level, by following the referral URL (2) to http://www.networksolutions.com and repeating the whois search there.

Privacy protection

Some people don't want their names, address, email, and phone number displayed for all the world to see upon request. You can avoid this by choosing a domain name registrar who offers a privacy protection feature, usually for an added fee. With privacy protection enabled, the registrar will serve as your legal front in the whois search.

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