When looking up information about a website, there are different amounts of data you can find based on the type of search you do. You may also find yourself wondering if the same type of search goes by more than one name as well. With that in mind, today’s SuperUser Q&A post has the answers to a confused reader’s question.
Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites.
Image courtesy of India7 Network (Flickr).
The Question
SuperUser reader yoyo_fun wants to know if there is a difference between name server and domain name search results:
I have seen the terms “name server” and “domain name” both being used, but I am not sure if there is a difference between them or not. Can someone please explain the difference if there is one?
Is there a difference between name server and domain name search results?
The Answer
SuperUser contributor DavidPostill has the answer for us:
Is there a difference between name server and domain name search results?
A “name server” lookup retrieves the IP address associated with a domain name. A “domain name” lookup, also referred to as whois, retrieves the domain’s registration data (the domain owner’s details).
How Do I Perform a Name Server Lookup?
Online using a variety of name server lookup services
On Windows use nslookup
On Unix use dig
Example Output (Source: http://ping.eu/nslookup/):
Example Output (Windows nslookup):
Example Output (Linux dig):
How Do I Perform a Domain Name Lookup?
Online using a variety of domain name lookup services
On Unix use whois
Example Output (Source: https://whois.domaintools.com/google.com):
Example Output (Linux whois):
Further Reading
How do I find the authoritative name-server for a domain name? [StackOverflow]
Domain Name System [Wikipedia]
10 Linux DIG Command Examples for DNS Lookup [The Geek Stuff]
nslookup – Look up IP addresses on a Name Server
Have something to add to the explanation? Sound off in the comments. Want to read more answers from other tech-savvy Stack Exchange users? Check out the full discussion thread here.
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