How to Find a DNS From an IP Address

The Domain Name System (DNS) is used to reduce the complexity of using the Internet. Rather than typing the Internet Protocol (IP) address of a server to browse to a website, such as 66.102.7.99, you type a name, such as Google.com. Your Internet Service Provider's DNS server converts the name to the IP address, forwards your request to that address, and the result is displayed. Although not every IP address hosts a website that you can view, nearly every IP address is linked to a domain name, even if the domain is simply the name of the Internet Service Provider that owns the address.

Instructions

Difficulty:

Resolving an IP Address to a Domain Name

Step 1

Click the "Start" button, and then click "Run." Alternatively, press the Windows logo and "R" keys simultaneously. The "Run" dialog box opens.

Step 2

Type "cmd" without quotation marks in the box and press "Enter." A command prompt window appears.

Step 3

Type "tracert (ip address)" and then press "Enter." An example of a completed command might be "tracert 66.102.7.99." This command is called a "traceroute."

Step 4

Examine the final line of the traceroute results. The final line might read something like "lax04s01-in-f99.1e100.net [66.102.7.99]." Record the domain name that appears before the IP address. In this case, the domain is "1e100.net." See the next section if you want to learn more about the domain.

Learning More About a Domain Name

Step 1

Browse to the Network Solutions WHOIS tool using the first link in the "Resources" section of this article.

Step 2

Type the domain name (e.g. 1e100.net) that you want to obtain more information about, and then click the "Search" button.

Step 3

Examine the information displayed in the search results. Unless the domain was registered using a third-party privacy protection service, you can generally determine the owner of the domain name. If you entered the domain name mentioned above, you would find from the results that the domain is owned by Google.

References

• computer hope: ms-dos nslookup command
• media college: how to use the traceroute command

Resources

• webyield: resolve an ip address
• network solutions: whois behind that domain?
• jettsoft

Tips & Warnings

• You can find the same information described in the first section using the "nslookup" command rather than "tracert" at the command prompt. If you are using a computer that runs an operating system other than Windows, type the IP address that you want to obtain information about into either of the IP address resolution tools in the "Resources" section. Both tools resolve an IP address to a domain name.
• You can find the same information described in the first section using the "nslookup" command rather than "tracert" at the command prompt.
• If you are using a computer that runs an operating system other than Windows, type the IP address that you want to obtain information about into either of the IP address resolution tools in the "Resources" section. Both tools resolve an IP address to a domain name.