- published: 29 Mar 2016
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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. The protocol stores and delivers database content in a human-readable format. The Whois protocol is documented in RFC 3912.
The WHOIS system originated as a method for system administrators to obtain contact information for IP address assignments or domain name administrators. The use of the data in the WHOIS system has evolved into a variety of uses, including:[citation needed]
When the Internet was emerging out of the ARPANET, there was only one organization that handled all domain registrations, which was DARPA itself. The process of registration was established in RFC 920. WHOIS was standardized in the early 1980s to look up domains, people and other resources related to domain and number registrations. Because all registration was done by one organization at that time, one centralized server was used for WHOIS queries. This made looking up such information very easy.