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WHOIS (pronounced as the phrase who is) is a query/response protocol that is widely used for querying databases in order to determine the registrar or assignee of an Internet resource (such as a domain name, an IP address block, or an autonomous system number). WHOIS was standardized in the early 1980s to look-up domains, people and other resources related to domain and number registrations. A month later, it had self-detecting CGI support so that the same program could operate a web-based WHOIS lookup, and an external TLD table to support multiple WHOIS servers based on the TLD of the request. As such, performing a WHOIS query on a domain requires knowing the correct, authoritative WHOIS server to use. WHOIS has a sister protocol called Referral Whois (RWhois). Thin and thick lookups WHOIS information can be stored and looked up according to either a "thick" or a "thin" data model:
The thick model usually ensures consistent data and slightly faster lookups (since only one WHOIS server needs to be contacted). Some top-level domains, including .com and .net, operate a thin WHOIS, requiring domain registrars to maintain their own customers' data. Software Originally the only method by which a WHOIS server could be contacted was to use a command line interface program, and such tools were available on Unix or Unix-like platforms, an example being the dig command ('Domain Information Groper'). A WHOIS command line client typically has options to choose which host to connect to for whois queries, with a default whois server being compiled in. Nowadays, web based WHOIS clients usually perform the WHOIS queries directly and then format the results for display. Microsoft Windows and Macintosh computers had no WHOIS clients, so registrars had to find a way to provide access to WHOIS data for potential customers. WHOIS server discovery There is currently no standard for determining the responsible WHOIS server for a DNS domain, though a number of methods are in common use for top-level domains (TLDs): whois-servers.net
whois-servers.net provides DNS alias records (CNAME) for TLD WHOIS servers of the form <tld>.whois-servers.net. For example, the host com.whois-servers.net can be used in place of the WHOIS server name for the com TLD in a command line query:
The GNU WHOIS utility automatically uses the whois-servers.net service. whois.iana.org The IANA whois server at whois.iana.org provides information on each TLD including the whois server. This is the result of a WHOIS query of example.com: IANA Whois Service Domain: example.com Name: IANA_RESERVED Registrant: Unavailable Administrative Contact: Unavailable Technical Contact: Unavailable Nameserver Information: Nameserver: a.iana-servers.net. If a registrant has acquired a domain name and wants to verify that the registrar has indeed completed the registration process, three steps may be required: 1) perform a WHOIS and confirm that the resource is at least registered with ICANN, 2) determine the name of the wholesale registrar, and 3) contact the wholesaler and obtain the name of the retail registrar. (June 2010)
one WHOIS server stores the complete WHOIS information from all the registrars for the particular set of data (so that one WHOIS server can respond with WHOIS information on all .org domains, for example).
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 (such as the .com WHOIS servers, which refer the WHOIS query to the registrar where the domain was registered). A few WHOIS servers, however, do automatically monitor and cache the records for domains which were queried through their interface, making the WHOIS history partially available. This means that both WHOIS servers and websites offering WHOIS lookups have resorted to special systems (such as CAPTCHA, where users have to type in letters or numbers from a picture) and rate-limiting systems. Therefore, people writing WHOIS tools need to find their own list of WHOIS servers, and different WHOIS tools may contact different WHOIS servers.
Domain name front running: Some registrars, notably Network Solutions have been accused of front running domain names immediately upon WHOIS queries for that domain, effectively locking potential buyers into paying premium second-sale rates to that registrar.
The articles in English include the definite article the and the indefinite articles a and an. The definite article is the in all cases, while indefiniteness is expressed with a or an for singular nouns or the zero article (i.e., the absence of an article) for plural or non-count nouns. English grammar requires that the appropriate article, if any, be used with each noun, with several exceptions:
In most cases, the article is the first word of its noun phrase, preceding all other adjectives. To add emphasis to a noun, the preceding indefinite article is often pronounced as a long a (just as the definite article would be pronounced as "thee" in such cases), whether or not the schwa, or even "an" would be the appropriate usage. The article the corresponds to il, lo, la, i, gli or le indifferently (remembering that Italian has masculine and feminine nouns, so that it is not indifferent to join any one of those articles with any Italian noun, indiscriminately) and the English articles a / an corresponds to Italian un or una (again, the masculine / feminine distinction must be taken into account).
For a list of words relating to English articles, see the English articles category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary
"The Definite Article: Acknowledging 'The' in Index Entries", Glenda Browne, The Indexer, vol.