WHOIS
Computer network protocol / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about a method for checking information about ownership of a domain name. For an IRC command called WHOIS, see List of Internet Relay Chat commands § WHOIS.
WHOIS (pronounced as the phrase "who is") is a query and response protocol that is used for querying databases that store an Internet resource's registered users or assignees. These resources include domain names, IP address blocks and autonomous systems, but it is also used for a wider range of other information. The protocol stores and delivers database content in a human-readable format.[1] The current iteration of the WHOIS protocol was drafted by the Internet Society, and is documented in RFC 3912.
Whois is also the name of the command-line utility on most UNIX systems used to make WHOIS protocol queries.[2] In addition, WHOIS has a sister protocol called Referral Whois (RWhois).