whois and basic DNS

[Michael Kjorling]

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On Jul 2 2001 16:07 -0000, Sam Adams wrote:

> Let us say I'd like to get a domain name, foo.com.
> i'll have to find one that is not in use (right,
> they say good names are almost impossible under .com).

Yet I did - but that's a sidenote :-)


> 1.  how do I know ascertain a domain name like foo.com
>     hasn't been assigned? if "whois foo.com" doesn't
>     return any hit, will that do?

The best way I can think of would be asking the relevant TLD servers
for NS records for that domain.

For example: dig @a.gtld-servers.net foo.com. ns +norec


> 2.  whois lookup of a domain using the Network Solutions web
>     interface returns far more info than the Unix whois
>     (Solaris 2.6 /bin/whois the.domain). does this mean
>     the Unix cmdline whois didn't ask for whois svr for
>     a more verbose output or it's not parsing it or it
>     is somewhat out dated?

Most likely Network Solutions are querying their server directly, but
you are receiving a referral. Does the whois output include a line
like:

	Whois server: whois.networksolutions.com

If so, add a @ followed by that server name to the domain name. That
is:

	whois foo.com at whois.networksolutions.com


> 3.  suppose foo.com is not assigned to anyone so I registered
>     it from one of those registrars that's capable of
>     .com domain. Does that guarantee that I also own
>     the possible subdomains ftp.foo.com, www.foo.com,
>     mail.foo.com etc in the future? I understand sometimes
>     a subdomain like www.foo.com may be just an alias of
>     foo.com.

Yes, it does. However, you can delegate parts of the domain to other
nameservers. But the _delegation_ is still under your control.


> 4.  now, I own the domain foo.com. and I have one or a few
>     IP addresses from my ISP, assume non DHCP adresses for
>     simplicity.  I have at least two options:
>         4.1 run my own DNS server
>         4.2 have my ISP handle the
>
>     For 4.1, I can set up Bind, have the parent domain
>     .com delegate foo.com to my own name server ns.foo.com
>     and request my ISP to let me handle the inverse IP addr
>     translation
>     For 4.2, I am not sure. will they be able to do *.foo.com
>     DNS transaltions for me even though they are mediaone.net
>     or rr.com.  Or I can only get a subdomain under theirs
>     such as         sub_myself.myisp.net and go from there?

Your ISP can set up a zone for foo.com in their DNS servers, just like
they today have a zone like ntl.com, rr.com, mediaone.net, etc.

If you have a connection which has a fixed IP (unless you are on a
leased line like a T-1, this usually has to be arranged specifically
with your ISP) you can run primary DNS yourself. You could either
arrange with your ISP to provide secondary service, join up with
someone you know (like I did), or look at for example the services of
secondary.com. There are several possibilities.


> Or, I am totally messed up and should go read a book? Thanks.

If you plan on setting up your own DNS server, I do suggest that you
grab a copy of the book "DNS and BIND", fourth edition, from your
reseller of choice (it's published by O'Reilly). This holds especially
true if you are going to use BIND on that DNS server, but it has lots
of useful information about DNS in general as well.


Michael Kjörling

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Michael Kjörling - michael at kjorling.com - PGP: 8A70E33E
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