Once you register a domain name, the information of your domain is saved on one of the many public databases called WHOIS. What kind of information is stored? Is it displayed in public? How is it useful in domain industry? Keep scrolling below, to find out your answer to every question you have about Whois.
What is Whois?
Whois is the giant database containing information of all the registered domain names. The website is managed and run by ICANN, which collects the information as soon as the domain name is registered, information is modified or the DNS setting is changed. The information visible to the public on Whois includes domain owner, registrant’s and administrator’s contact details, address and the host country.
The information of different domain names and their owners comes in handy on Whois. This is extremely beneficial for people who are wandering in domain name search. They can easily check the owner of a domain name to engage in buying it. The cyber investigation is often initiated by the Law Enforcement by looking up into the Whois database. Whois database is updated by the individual registrar rather than the central registry. It takes 24 hours for the systems to be updated.
You can check any domain’s Whois details from here: https://www.whois.com/whois/
Domain Information on Whois Database
All you have to do to get the domain information is to search domain online in the search bar of Whois and the details will be displayed in no time. The details visible to public are shown through an example below:
| Domain | Forexample.nid |
| Registrar | registrarname123.nid |
| Registration Date | 1995-07-13 |
| Expiration Date | 2021-02-19 |
| Updated Date | 2011-12-04 |
| Status | clientTransferProhibited |
| Name Servers | ns1.forexample.nid |
| ns2.forexample.nid |
The two elements that you should check carefully in the domain information are the status and expiration date fields.
- The client status codes are set by your registrar. It can be client delete prohibited – which says that your domain cannot be deleted by the registrar even if you request, client renew prohibited – which states that your domain cannot be renewed by your registrar, etc. If the status field says client transfer prohibited then the domain you own can not be transferred to another domain registrar.
- Expiration Date field is the date when your domain name expires. You must renew the domain by paying the necessary amount if you wish to continue your holding on the domain name, otherwise you may lose it.
Registrant, Administrative and Technical Contact on Whois
The contact details of registrant, administrative and technical contact succeed the domain information. The information included in all the 3 are as mentioned below:
| Name | Admin Registrant |
| Organization | Admin Registrant Organization |
| Street | 87 Admin Street |
| City | City Name |
| State | State Name |
| Postal Code | 00000 |
| Country | Country Name |
| Phone | 999999999 |
| admin@registrant.nid |
Things to Remember:
Below are certain things that you should take care of as a domain name holder:
- The name and contact details are used to validate your domain name in many stages by Whois. So, ensuring they are correct is unquestionably important.
- Make sure you keep the information on Whois updated. Because, in case of a dispute or transfer, these contact details play an important role. If incorrect, there are chances that your domain name registration might be cancelled.
- If you wish to keep your contact information hidden from the public, then using Whois privacy/proxy service is the best option.
- It is essential for your registrar to provide you with the Whois information that is currently on their record.
- Make sure that the email ID you provide on the Whois information is active and checked frequently.
A person dealing in domain buying and selling must not neglect the importance of Whois. Whois is much more useful in keeping the domain names free from registration disputes or administrative issues. Hence, it is crucial to keep the information up-to-date on it to prevent any problem down the road for your domain name.
