How a domain connects
DNS helps a name such as example.com.au connect to internet services. Public records can suggest which DNS provider helps with that work.
Explore the explainers →
Infrastructure Atlas
How .au domains connect to infrastructure.
The .au Domain Observatory (.auDO) collects dated public observations. Atlas makes selected provider and cohort associations visible, and lets you follow those relationships back to their published evidence.
Start with a provider or a cohort. These are observed associations, not contracts or a complete supplier inventory.
VISUAL EXPLORATION
See the connections
Choose a provider or group, then follow its public connections and dated evidence.
Loading current published observations…
Provider
Start with a familiar infrastructure name.
Loading named providers…
Names come from public cohort summaries, not a list of preferred vendors.
Cohort
Explore one of the Observatory's selected groups.
Loading the eight published groups…
Selected groups can overlap; these are not complete industry lists.
STARTED WITH A COMPANY
Loading connections…
Reading the public observations…
What kind of connection?
Choose one type of public connection.
Publicly visible connectionsDated evidence
Swipe sideways to explore the whole diagram
Showing published connections.
Listed in the published observations No supported connection shown
This shows public records associated with domain names, not contractual suppliers or control of an organisation. A line means the name appears in a published summary; it does not show a change over time.
SELECTED CONNECTION
Not-for-profit
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Choose a name or group to see what the published records show.
- Type of connection
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- Date observed
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- Size of selected group
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Interpretation and limitations
Public records show only part of the infrastructure picture.
All connections in this viewAccessible list of every published name and group
Loading public names…
This describes the selected .au domains we observe, not all Australian domains. Groups can overlap, so their counts cannot be added together. Not listed does not prove a service is absent. No company is being endorsed, graded or assessed.
OBSERVATION CONTEXT
Looking again adds context
The Observatory looks again and again. Each check shows what was visible on that date, where the recorded answers differed and where evidence was unclear.
A different view of the evidence: The relationship map above shows current provider associations. The observations below describe the wider panel and your selected group over time, not the history of the provider you selected.
ACROSS THE OBSERVED .AU PANEL
What did each daily check show?
Every dot is a separate dated check—not a continuous service history. Choose a signal, then select a date to see how many records were visible and how many readings were unclear.
Loading dated State observations…
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Select a point to read the observation.
View the observations as a table
| Date | Visible | Unclear |
|---|
The vertical scale is expanded to make small differences legible. Points are discrete observations and do not indicate what happened between dates. Equal totals do not prove the same individual domains remained unchanged, and an unclear reading is not proof a record disappeared.
Explore the current State of .auWITHIN YOUR SELECTED GROUP
What have we noticed over a longer period?
This view follows the group selected in the Atlas explorer. These windows overlap; they are not two separate reporting periods.
To look at a different group, choose another cohort above. The 30/90-day buttons below change only the observation window.
Not-for-profit domains
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—Domains with notable observations
—Domains with repeated notable observations
—Notable observations recorded
These are observations across the whole group, not necessarily changes involving the provider selected above.
These observations are not security warnings or a measure of trust. A domain with no notable observation may still have changed in ways we did not measure; some readings may be incomplete.
Explore this group in the ObservatorySee why two matching totals can hide different underlying domains
ILLUSTRATIVE ONLY / NOT AN OBSERVATORY FINDING
Six then. Six now. But not the same six.
In this fictional example, twelve domains are checked twice. The same number show an association with Provider P at both dates—but they are not necessarily the same domains.
Loading the fictional comparison…
This needs comparable observations of the same domains. It doesn't prove any supplier changed or explain why an individual record differed.
READING THE EVIDENCE
How to read a connection
The visual links are evidence-led associations. More context is available when you need it.
DNS, email and domain registration explained
Where email is directed
Domains publish records to help direct incoming email. Those records may mention a familiar provider, but they don't reveal everything about how an organisation uses email.
Explore mail infrastructure →Who registered a domain
A registrar helps manage a domain registration. That is a different job from hosting its DNS or routing its email.
Explore the cohorts →How does the Observatory work out which provider is involved?
We collect publicly visible domain information and interpret certain records using documented provider-identification rules. A provider label is based on that evidence—not a customer list, contract, or proof of who controls a service. Methods and evidence quality can also change. Read the public methodology for the technical detail.
CONTINUE WITH THE EVIDENCE
Continue with the source evidence
The Observatory's existing publications remain the source of truth.