could anyone find out who http://www.webbyte.com actually resells for ?

Learner

The IP block for both their site and their first set of nameservers belongs to Colossus (http://colossus.net). The IP block for their second set of nameservers belongs to covesoft.com (but the domain listed on that second set of nameservers is also at Colossus).

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Annette
Hosting Matters, Inc.
http://www.hostmatters.com

The IP block for both their site and their first set of nameservers belongs to Colossus (http://colossus.net).

Thanks Annette for your prompt reply. Will you please be my teacher for a little longer?

I would like to learn how you know that "the IP block for both their site and first set of nameservers" actually belongs to Colossus.

The IP block for their second set of nameservers belongs to covesoft.com (but the domain listed on that second set of nameservers is also at Colossus).


Again, how do you know that their "second set of nameservers" belongs to covesoft.com and that "the domain listed on that second set" is also at Colossus?

Thanks in advance for teaching me the tricks of the trade, Annette! Your prompt and regular help in this forum is greatly appreciated... and I am sure most of the others also feel the same.

Learner

Originally posted by Learner:
[b] I would like to learn how you know that "the IP block for both their site and first set of nameservers" actually belongs to Colossus.
In case Annette might be away from the forums for a few minutes :), I'll give you an answer: go to http://www.samspade.org and enter "webbyte.com" in the first field on that page, selecting the "whois" and "IP block" boxes on that line. You'll get the information you're looking for.

Then you might want to download SamSpade for Windows, which will make this kind of thing easier.

You can also do a whois lookup at www.networksolutions.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois (http://www.networksolutions.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois)
copy the IP address of the primary nameserver, and go to www.arin.net/whois/ (http://www.arin.net/whois/) to look it up. JayC's link might be easier, though :)

Brian

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Web Hosting: http://www.intersurge.com
Web Design: http://www.infostardesign.com

Learner, you came to the right place to learn new and dazzling things - look at all the help available here! :)

OK, I did my lookups on a server, since I happened to have a session open anyway. But that simply isn't practical for most people, so...

If you're going to be tracing this type of info on a regular basis, downloading Sam Spade at the URL given by Jay is a good idea. Brian's idea is also good if you'll only be doing periodic lookups. Many people like the convenience of Sam Spade - I use it more often than I use command line lookups on the server, in fact.

After you download and install Sam Spade, one of the things you'll want to do is set up a nameserver within the software to tell it where it can go to look things up for you. Go to Edit -> Options -> Basics tab. Don't check the DHCP box, as I've found that Sam Spade gives inconsistent performance that way. Instead, type the name of your nameserver in the box below that. You don't have to use your ISP's necessarily - you could use Yahoo's and type in ns.yahoo.com. Click OK and you'll be back at the main window.

In the far right box along the top you'll see the nameserver that will be used to do lookups. It should fill in with the nameserver you entered via the Options; if not, simply type in the nameserver you are going to be using. In the box to the left of that, choose "Magic". This will allow Sam Spade to use its own judgment to pick an appropriate WHOIS for various .tlds (.com, country specific domains, etc.). Sometimes it cannot find a WHOIS database to query - usually for certain country-specific domain types - in which case it's necessary to go via the web to that registering agent's page to do a lookup.

Now, the easy part. To look up a domain, just type the domain name in the upper left hand box and click the arrow next to the box or press enter. Sam Spade will do a WHOIS and give you the results below. Scroll through the information until you reach the nameserver information. You can double click on the IP address next to a nameserver and Sam Spade will put it into the lookup box - then you can hit the arrow next to the box and it will see who that IP address (part of a block) belongs to.

It this specific instance, here's what I would do:

Look up webbyte.com in Sam Spade. Double click on the IP address for the first nameserver, hit the arrow. This pulls back info on Colossus, so you know that the IP is part of a block that belongs to them. Type in the domain name of the second set of nameservers (TIRUPATIINFOSYS.NET). Along the left hand navigation bar, you'll see an option that says "Ping". Click that, and Sam Spade will ping the domain. You can then look up the IP address that the pings return by double clicking and hitting the arrow - which will return info about Colossus again. You can also look up info about that second domain by putting it back into the lookup box and hitting enter.

One thing to keep in mind - since many resellers use virtual nameservers, they might not track back to their provider, but to the top upstream. For instance, if you looked up some of our resellers, and looked up their IPs, you'd find that their IPs were part of Alabanza's blocks. It's a way for a host to remain transparent to the reseller's clients. So just getting to the top upstream may not tell you everything you need to know.

Sound complicated? It isn't, really, once you get the hang of it. You'd be surprised how adept you'll become at researching what domains are where.

(Apologies for the length!)

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Annette
Hosting Matters, Inc.
http://www.hostmatters.com

Learner, you came to the right place to learn new and dazzling things - look at all the help available here! :)

Yeah !!! LOL !!! I did come, as you said, to the RIGHT PLACE to learn NEW & DAZZLING things... and the best thing about coming here is that you guys explain things so beautifully !!!

So thanks a lot to JayC, Brian and you. I tried both the methods advised above and sort of am now getting the hang of it... that too within a few mintues !!!

(Apologies for the length!)

uh... uh... a correction is called for here !!!

THANKS FOR THE LENGTH !!!!

I am going to download the program and try out what you have advised !!!

And Annette, you must be a mind reader !!! Because while i read your explanation, the query about virtual name servers being offered by web hosting companies did crop up in my mind... and before I could shoot off another question here... you already answered it.

This just goes to show that your technical support you provide to all your clients must be equally fantastic !!!

Learner