Whois is defined as a tool for querying information bases (called registries) regarding domain names and IP addresses. The data contained in these registries does not bear a guarantee, but may generally be used to find out who owns a domain name or a machine, particularly if a dispute arises.
Objectives of Whois:
- Retrieving information on the owner of a domain name (for administrative, technical, and possibly billing purposes) and the servers associated with the domain
- Retrieving information on whom a given range of IP addresses belongs to
- Determining the registration status of domain names
- Assisting in combating abusive uses of information communication technology
- Facilitating inquiries and subsequent steps to conduct trademark research and to help counter intellectual property infringement
- Assisting businesses, other organizations and users in combating fraud, complying with relevant laws and safeguarding the interests of the public
Data models:
In a WHOIS database, two data models exist for storing resource information:
Thick: One WHOIS server stores the complete WHOIS information from all the registrars for the particular set of data
Thin: One WHOIS server stores only the name of the WHOIS server of the registrar of a domain, which in turn has the full details on the data being looked up.
