DNS is an abbreviation for the Domain Names System. Basically, DNS takes a human-readable domain name, such as Google.com, and translate it into a machine-readable number format called an IP Address, such as 74.125.224.72.
What is DNS?
DNS is a distributed protocol that runs on a network of servers throughout the world. The protocol has been designed so that if any single server was removed the DNS service would still function properly. Also, there are many different versions of the DNS software including BIND, Microsoft DNS, among others so if there was a bug in one DNS would still be able to work through the remaining servers running the other versions.
Who pays for DNS?
Most of the time these servers are paid for and maintained by your ISP or Internet Service Provider. There are also several free providers of DNS including Google’s Public DNS.
When does DNS occur?
Most people never learn about DNS because it is a service that runs transparently in the background. When you type Google.com into your browser, DNS silently and near instantly translates the domain name into a server IP Address.
When a domain is first created, such as when you purchase a new domain, you must set your domain to point to your hosting servers. Then this information must be passed around the network of other DNS servers. For speed, these servers may be set to only refresh each other every 4-hours to every few days, therefore, it can take up to 3 days before you can use your newly purchased domain name.
What is, Who is?
A WHOIS query is asking the question, Who owns and operates this domain? The WHOIS query can therefore be used to verify if a domain is currently owned or available. When you are asking if a domain is free, you are performing a WHOIS query.
Below we have included a form so that you can perform a WHOIS query. You can check on the availability of a domain or see the contact information for the owner.
[whois]
