This page looks at what information you can find from a website address. It is taken from notes from a course by Mike Schrenk
domain name system
Through the DNS (domain name system) you can find information such as who a web url is registered to and when it was registered. You can do this using the IP (internet protocol) address of the site you want information about.
What is my IP will tell you your IP address.
Network Tools by typing the url of a website under look-up you can find the IP address and some basic information such as where the site is registered.
For example www.bbc.co.uk has the IP address 212.58.253.68 you can then use of the regional internet registries (below) to find out more information.
Domain Tools is another site for finding out about a site based on the url. By using the ‘Who is’ function, you can find out who owns the site, the contact details and when the ownership expires etc.
Look up Server offers another option to find information on a DNS as do All Who Is and Reverse DNS lookup
regional internet registries
IP addresses are registered regionally and also provide useful information:
Afrinic – Africa
Apnic – Asia Pacific
Ripe – Europe the Middle East and parts of Central Asia
Lacnic Latin America and Caribbean
Arin – North America
This page is based on a training session by Mike Schrenk – November 2009.