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  1. #1
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    checking free domain name

    Hello,

    (i hope this is the right forum for this question)

    My question:
    While checking domain names with this tld's:

    nl, be, de, com, net, org, name, biz, info

    Is a domain name always free if there is no A record?

    the reason why ask as this is, I want to use my whois domain name check utillity whithout to query a whois database.
    gr. Olaf

  2. #2
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    If the domain name doesn't have any name servers set, then it can't have any A records either. Therefore, not all registered domains have an A record.

  3. #3
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    Thanks for your answer, I was afraid about this...

    But this will mean you have to query multiple whois server for one single .com domain check?
    gr. Olaf

  4. #4
    Join Date
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    The whois command will automatically connect to the appropriate whois server and retrieve the infos.

  5. #5
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    Originally posted by davevad
    The whois command will automatically connect to the appropriate whois server and retrieve the infos.
    ??? this will mean on linux you can use just a whois to get the data?

    do you have link about this (what a windows user can understand)?

    and willl this work in the DOS box too?
    gr. Olaf

  6. #6
    Join Date
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    Yep, there is a command in Linux for this.
    There is no such application in windows by default, you might find a graphical program for this purpose.
    If you have webspace somewhere, you could upload a whois PHP script ( http://hotscripts.com/PHP/Scripts_an...ois/index.html )and do the lookups with it.

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    the second entry is mine...
    hotscripts.com/Detailed/40874.html


    so this will mean i can use

    whois -h hotscripts.com DOmain

    on Linux... is this fast?
    gr. Olaf

  8. #8
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    ... an additional question:

    are there many domain names without name server entries?
    gr. Olaf

  9. #9
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    Originally posted by olederer


    the second entry is mine...
    The script you downloaded is a web interface for whois.

    Originally posted by olederer

    whois -h hotscripts.com DOmain

    on Linux... is this fast?

    On Linux you could just use whois domain.com. And yes, it's fast!

  10. #10
    Join Date
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    Hungary
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    Originally posted by olederer
    ... an additional question:

    are there many domain names without name server entries?
    I would say no. If someone doesn't use a domain, some advertisement is often put on the site.

  11. #11
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    OK, but these domain names are configured with a nameserver entry or not?
    gr. Olaf

  12. #12
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    Yes, they have an A record.

  13. #13
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    Do you think my whois script is powerfull enough if a simple check controlsthe existens of an A-record and the advanced / complete check will query the whois server?
    gr. Olaf

  14. #14
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    Yes, that would work for most domains.

  15. #15
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    .. will everyone agree with this?
    gr. Olaf

  16. #16
    Join Date
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    Location
    London
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    Checking for an A record will not determin whether a domain is registered. When you check an A record you are attempting to resolve a hostname to an IP address. Whether you find this depends on whether the owner of the domain has decided to resolve that particular hostname to an IP address; they by no means have to.

    For example a person can register a domain and only use it for email. They will then only have an MX record for the domain (that MX record does not have to resolve to an A record using the host domain).

    In order to determin if a domin is registered you should query the root servers for an entry. No domain can work without unless it has an entry in the root servers (new.net domains excluded). To do this you need to check for NS records for the domain at one of the root servers e.g.

    M.ROOT-SERVERS.NET.

    However, there are occasions when a registered domain is not in the root servers, e.g when has the status REGISTRAR-HOLD. You will need to check in Internic's whois server to determin this. If you direct your software to try a whois search at whois.internic.net you can find if they have an entry for the domain. As they are the registry for the GTLD's you list above, if they don't have it then it's not registered. Note, this will not work for the CCTLD's you have listed. You will need to check with their respecitive registries' whois servers to find whether they are registered or not.

    Sorry for the length of this but the lack any standard model for registering and maintining domains among the registrars and registeries, compounded by the multiplicity of ways domain can be used and the various states they can get into makes it actually quite tough to determin in all cases if a domain is registered or not.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Netherlands
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    i understand...

    I know that .de and .nl domein names need a dns record for getting registered.

    in case of the others i'm not sure

    what do you mean with this:

    M.ROOT-SERVERS.NET.



    actually is use this kind of nslookup:

    -type=A domainname.com
    gr. Olaf

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