WHOIS Overview Whois is a capability provided by some registrars to allow you to determine who owns a domain name or IP #.

All domain names on the Internet are registered with "Domain name registrars".  Domain name registrars are entities which have been allocated the authority to register names for a specific subset of domain names. Most domain name registrars provide a "whois" function, where you can ask "whois domain.name" and they will tell you who has registered that domain name.  

For global top level domains (.com, net, org, etc), intense competition between registrars has made whois more difficult. Some registrars may block whois queries originating from competing registrars, or from popular third-party whois search tools.  To guarantee a successful whois query, you must query internic.net which contains the integrated database of all the global top level domains.  You can then proceed to query the specific registrar listed in the "referral URL" of the Internic's search results.

Useful  Whois locations include:

• Internic Whois Integrated database for all .com. .net, .org, .edu - This top-level resource will tell you which Registrar you must query to get the detailed Whois information. (go to the "referral URL in the search results)
• Popular resources for .com, .net : Network Solution,. Register.com,  and many other registrars..
• Betterwhois - searches the shared registry first, and then the specific registrar.
• AllWHOIS - Another nicely done integrated WHOIS interface to most WHOIS servers worldwide.
• Whowhizz - allows domain name look-ups of many countries.
• Geektools - provides a whois interface which will automatically   query the right registrar - very useful when dealing with many types of international domain names.
• whois.net - you can do a key-word search of domain names, with the results linking to whois.
• An extensive table of Domain name registrars around the world (perfect for clients who want to register in other country domains (ISO 3166 - 2 letter Country Codes)
• Network-tools.com. - integrates many functions into one page.
• Domain_Tools and Netcraft - Perform a keyword search against all domain names.  This is helpful when searching for a new unique domain name.

Regional Internet Registries handle the allocation of IP Numbers.  Using their "whois"  you can search ’based on IP Numbers, autonomous system numbers (ASNs), network-related handles, and other related Points of Contact (POCs)

• ARIN Whois -  American Registry for Internet numbers- North America and South America
• Ripe Whois - European  IP network Coordination Center, Covers Europe and  middle east
• APNIC Whois  - Asia Pacific Network Information Center
• LACNIC
- Latin American and Caribbean
• AFRINIC - Africa Network Information Center

To learn more about Domain Name structure and to locate domain name registrars for 2-letter domains (.UK, .JP, etc) explore the following links:

• Domain Name Registration (RFC 1591 - Domain Name System Structure and Delegation)
• The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN- will now have responsibility for the IP address space allocation, protocol parameter assignment,  domain name system management, and root server system)

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