Loading...
Referral Whois (RWhois)
Referral Whois (RWhois) is an extension of the traditional Whois protocol, designed to provide distributed and hierarchical management of network information, such as domain registrations and IP address allocations. It facilitates referrals to more specific registries responsible for the data, enabling a scalable infrastructure for querying network resources..
Referral Whois (RWhois) protocol extends the classic Whois service to address scalability and delegation needs in an expanding Internet infrastructure. Traditional Whois is a flat, centralized database model maintained by registry authorities. RWhois introduces a hierarchical structure, allowing distributed databases maintained by multiple organizations responsible for various network resource allocations.
RWhois servers can refer query requests to other RWhois servers that hold more granular data. This referral system enables a query journey down the hierarchy, from broad registries to narrow, authoritative sources for specific information. It operates primarily over TCP port 4321 and uses a text-based query and response protocol similar to Whois, but includes support for structured object templates and referrals.
The protocol, while largely superseded by modern directory services and WHOIS replacements like RDAP, still aids certain legacy networking and registry functions. Its design aimed to accommodate delegation of resource management as the internet grew, minimizing centralized bottlenecks and easing administrative burdens.