March 2010 – MxToolBox Supertool (DNS tool)

MxToolBox has provided many free tools over the years and we are pleased to announce our newest tool, the SuperTool! This tool gives users the ability to do different types of lookups from one common location. To use the new tool, simply go to MxToolBox.com and input a domain name, IP Address or Host Name. To give you an example, I looked up the MX records for crawfordbowling.com:

Included in the results box are links to related tests you might want to run based on the lookup you just performed. Or if you want to go in a different direction you can run any other lookups by typing the command in the box like blacklist:208.65.144.12 , a:google.com, or smtp:208.65.144.12 .

Next, I ran an email diagnostic on the server by clicking on SMTP Test:

Then the last test I did was a reverse lookup:

A really cool feature that you may not have noticed is that the page adds the results from your latest test on top of your previous tests. This helps keep track of all the tests you have run.

Recently we added even more DNS lookups to the SuperTool and we are adding new tools as fast as we can to make sure we stay on top. If you have any tool additions that you would like to see, please let us know. We are also very interested in how these tools are being used out in the wild so we can better tailor them to your needs.

command	explanation
blacklist:	Check IP or host for reputation
smtp:	Test mail server SMTP (port 25)
mx:	DNS MX records for domain
a:	DNS A record IP address for host name
spf:	Check SPF records on a domain
txt:	Check TXT records on a domain
ptr:	DNS PTR record for host name
cname:	DNS canonical host name to IP address
scan:	Perform a port scan on the host New!
whois:	Get domain registration information New!
arin:	Get IP address block information New!
soa:	Get Start of Authority record for a domain New!

	Other tools coming soon
http:	Get web page at URL
https:	Get web page at URL using SSL encryption
ping:	Perform a standard ICMP ping
trace:	Perform a standard ICMP trace route

The SuperTool is the culmination of our firm’s six year track record of providing Free tools for system administrators to assist in Network troubleshooting. This one-of-a-kind tool gives users the ability to do different types of lookups from one common location. Since many DNS tool providers have chosen to provide paid only services, we are proud to continue hosting these free tools on our site.

You might be thinking, what’s the big deal about this new tool? Great question. Let me begin by saying that we’re just as skeptical as you are when people throw around words like one-of-a-kind, revolutionary, groundbreaking, etc. When we say that the SuperTool is one-of-a-kind, we can prove it. Try it out for yourself and you will see that you can look up all of your MX records, DNS, Blacklist and SMTP diagnostics in one integrated tool. It is amazing.