"Who Is" searches the InterNIC (Internet Network Information Center) Database of registered names allowing you to find the organization and administrative contact responsible for networks with registered domain names.
For example, if you discover a routing problem in accessing "www.sustworks.com", you can use "Who Is" to find out who is responsible for "sustworks.com". The information returned will normally include the email address of an administrative contact to be notified in case of connectivity problems.
From the Trace Route Window, select any destination in the table and press Cmd-I to look up "Who Is" responsible for the corresponding 2nd level network domain.
If the response to a whois query lists an alternate "Whois Server:", IPNetMonitor will automatically enter this in the Server Name Field so the original request can be completed by pressing the Query button a second time. This simplifies using the Whois tool when there are multiple registration authorities for a single top level domain such as ".COM".
Many international domain names (outside the United States) are not registered by the InterNIC. If a Whois query does not find a matching database entry, you may need to specify an alternate Whois Server by entering the appropriate server address or name. Often, you can find the appropriate Whois Server by entering a Whois query for the top level domain. For example, to lookup who is "liu.se", you would first lookup who is "SE-DOM" (the top level "se" domain). The information returned will usually include one or more references to the domain name of the organization that administers that domain. In our example, this would be "sunet.se" and doing a name server lookup on "whois.sunet.se" returns the address of the appropriate Whois Server.
A popup history menu keeps a list of Recent Whois Servers. The content of the Server Name field is added to the history menu when a test to that name is invoked. The Server Name or Address field is added to the history menu when the Lookup button is pressed. If the menu becomes full (10 entries), the least recently used item will be replaced. To remove an item from the history menu, select that item while pressing the Option key. A default list of Whois servers is added each time the application is launched.
Whois can be used to search for other information as well. Most Whois servers will provide further instructions if you send an empty Whois query.
If you have Internet Config installed, you can make IPNetMonitor a helper application for URLs of the form:
<whois:sustworks.com>
<whois:sustworks.com@whois.internic.net>
<whois://whois.internic.net/sustworks.com>
Which lookup whois "sustworks.com" using whois server "whois.internic.net" (if specified).
When you invoke one window from another, the corresponding data is automatically transferred. Invoke the Ping window from the Window menu (Cmd-T) to begin a ping test to the Whois Server address.
Keyboard Shortcuts:
Cmd-Period Abort a test or lookup in progress
Cmd-I Open another Who Is window
Cmd-T Ping Whois Server
Cmd-R Trace Route to Whois Server
Cmd-B Transfer Whois Server address to Subnet Calculator
