6 ms·

What method did you use to see if a domain was available? I was never able to find a service that didn't throttle my usage when checking on a large list.

soult 16y ago
Use DNS. If a.gtld-servers.net (or whatever server the registry uses) doesn't have NS records for the domain, it doesn't exist. Be careful, some registries don't require that you set a nameserver (most do). For those you will have to fall back to whois. Of course there are internal APIs for registrars to use, but as a small fish you don't get access to them.
- kree10 16y ago
  As long as you're not dealing with a TLD with a wildcard (like .ws) you should be able to just check for NXDOMAIN status on your NS queries.
SageRaven 16y ago
Scripting the nslookup, dig, and host commands is predictable and easy. In contrast, there appears to be no consistency in the output for whois queries, making them infuriatingly difficult to parse reliably. While not the most accurate way, in my own efforts brute-forcing of DNS name space (I was checking every word in my local /usr/share/dict/words file for possible free domain names), I have found that simple DNS queries are relatively effective and don't raise eyebrows, especially if you use your own name server. Plus, they're much faster than whois queries. Usually resolving domain.tld and www.domain.tld will tell you if the name has been registered with fair accuracy. As an added bonus, you don't have to worry about someone using whois queries to park/squat interesting domains.
bdr 16y ago
I used whois, but it sounds like that was suboptimal.
DotSauce 16y ago
Moniker is the most reliable, speedy and trustworthy bulk domain lookup in my experience. It requires username registration. https://www.moniker.com/domains/batch_reg.jsp https://www.moniker.com/domains/batch_reg.jsp
gizmomagico 16y ago
I'm appalled that people on HN are casually discussing ways to squat domains. Have you tried to come up with a good domain name that's not already taken? It's really freaking difficult, because squatter scumbags have taken practically all of them. There's not much left besides names like "heroku" or "meebo" that are basically just strings of random characters, and working around squatters by concatenating the name you'd actually want with "-ly", "get-" or "-app" is not really a solution. Your business model is extortion.
- pier0 16y ago
  Real estate in metropolitan centres and downtowns is all taken. Are real estate owners extortionists as well?
  - vidarh 16y ago
    In many places there are legal procedures available to expropriate by force land from owners that don't make use of their real estate. Near where I live the local city council has run a campaign for years to get people to notify them about derelict and unoccupied buildings in order for them to be able to expropriate it and resell or lease it to companies or residents that actually wants to use the land. This is exactly because it is recognized that buying and holding land in areas where land is a scarce resource is not in the public interest.
- stanley 16y ago
  Not saying I agree or disagree with you - but - what is your opinion of real estate investors who own parking lots in crowded urban neighborhoods? If you don't think it's the same thing, I would love to hear your argument.
  - axod 16y ago
    There's no location element in domain names. Also there's an indefinite supply of them unlike real estate. The problem is that the real estate investor had to buy that land to make it into a parking lot. That's fine. Others had the opportunity to buy the land and do what they want with it. However, domain names are effectively free. This means that instead of 'whoever wants to pay the best price' getting it, it's simply whoever grabbed it first. In summary, land is priced based on its worth. Domain names are all priced the same at a negligible cost (Initial sale). That's why the domain name system is so broken.
ThomPete 16y ago
I got my sysadmin to make this little pearl script http://www.000fff.org/uploads/checkdomains.zip http://www.000fff.org/uploads/checkdomains.zip We often have to come up with names for our clients and sometimes have hundreds of names. The script allows you to create a list of domains you want to check in a text file and then filter those out that are available.
- mahmud 16y ago
  Perl script. That should help you find someone to fix it, should your sysad disappear.
  - ThomPete 16y ago
    I know plenty of pearl guys :)

soult 16y ago

Use DNS. If a.gtld-servers.net (or whatever server the registry uses) doesn't have NS records for the domain, it doesn't exist. Be careful, some registries don't require that you set a nameserver (most do). For those you will have to fall back to whois. Of course there are internal APIs for registrars to use, but as a small fish you don't get access to them.

kree10 16y ago
As long as you're not dealing with a TLD with a wildcard (like .ws) you should be able to just check for NXDOMAIN status on your NS queries.

SageRaven 16y ago

Scripting the nslookup, dig, and host commands is predictable and easy. In contrast, there appears to be no consistency in the output for whois queries, making them infuriatingly difficult to parse reliably. While not the most accurate way, in my own efforts brute-forcing of DNS name space (I was checking every word in my local /usr/share/dict/words file for possible free domain names), I have found that simple DNS queries are relatively effective and don't raise eyebrows, especially if you use your own name server. Plus, they're much faster than whois queries. Usually resolving domain.tld and www.domain.tld will tell you if the name has been registered with fair accuracy. As an added bonus, you don't have to worry about someone using whois queries to park/squat interesting domains.

bdr 16y ago

I used whois, but it sounds like that was suboptimal.

DotSauce 16y ago

Moniker is the most reliable, speedy and trustworthy bulk domain lookup in my experience. It requires username registration. https://www.moniker.com/domains/batch_reg.jsp https://www.moniker.com/domains/batch_reg.jsp

gizmomagico 16y ago

I'm appalled that people on HN are casually discussing ways to squat domains. Have you tried to come up with a good domain name that's not already taken? It's really freaking difficult, because squatter scumbags have taken practically all of them. There's not much left besides names like "heroku" or "meebo" that are basically just strings of random characters, and working around squatters by concatenating the name you'd actually want with "-ly", "get-" or "-app" is not really a solution. Your business model is extortion.

pier0 16y ago
Real estate in metropolitan centres and downtowns is all taken. Are real estate owners extortionists as well?
- vidarh 16y ago
  In many places there are legal procedures available to expropriate by force land from owners that don't make use of their real estate. Near where I live the local city council has run a campaign for years to get people to notify them about derelict and unoccupied buildings in order for them to be able to expropriate it and resell or lease it to companies or residents that actually wants to use the land. This is exactly because it is recognized that buying and holding land in areas where land is a scarce resource is not in the public interest.
stanley 16y ago
Not saying I agree or disagree with you - but - what is your opinion of real estate investors who own parking lots in crowded urban neighborhoods? If you don't think it's the same thing, I would love to hear your argument.
- axod 16y ago
  There's no location element in domain names. Also there's an indefinite supply of them unlike real estate. The problem is that the real estate investor had to buy that land to make it into a parking lot. That's fine. Others had the opportunity to buy the land and do what they want with it. However, domain names are effectively free. This means that instead of 'whoever wants to pay the best price' getting it, it's simply whoever grabbed it first. In summary, land is priced based on its worth. Domain names are all priced the same at a negligible cost (Initial sale). That's why the domain name system is so broken.

ThomPete 16y ago

I got my sysadmin to make this little pearl script http://www.000fff.org/uploads/checkdomains.zip http://www.000fff.org/uploads/checkdomains.zip We often have to come up with names for our clients and sometimes have hundreds of names. The script allows you to create a list of domains you want to check in a text file and then filter those out that are available.

mahmud 16y ago
Perl script. That should help you find someone to fix it, should your sysad disappear.
- ThomPete 16y ago
  I know plenty of pearl guys :)