WHOIS

WHOIS (pronounced as the phrase who is) is a query and response protocol that is widely used for querying databases that store the registered users or assignees of an Internet resource, such as a domain name, an IP address block, or an autonomous system, but is also used for a wider range of other information.

(TO DO: expand, cross-reference, illustrate.)

Description

The protocol stores and delivers database content in a human-readable format.

The WHOIS protocol is documented in RFC 3912.

See also

• Domain name registry
• Domain Name System
• IP address
• IP address block
• Internet
• Regional Internet registry
• Routing Assets Database
• Routing Policy Specification Language
• Shared Whois Project

External links

• WHOIS @ Wikipedia
• The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
• The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
• XML Whois Server list