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A bit of Domain Name status help please

sickmacdoc

sickmacdoc

macrumors 68020
Original poster
After searching and reading about 50 articles, I find myself just getting more and more confused about the "RedemptionPeriod" status in whois searches.

At first glance it seems that it should be straightforward- after a domain name is allowed to expire, that name is placed into "redemptionperiod" status for 30 days to give the original owner one last shot at renewing. Little did I know...

Anyhow, my question is--- when a name is in that status, why do I get such differing results from various domain name availability lookups? My girlfriend finally decided on a name (yay) which shows (I think 😉) that it should be out of that status from the whois info below. GoDaddy's search (not that I intend to use them for the registration, but they show as the registrar of the name) shows that it is not available but it can be backordered for $18.99. Some other lookups show that it is available, and some show it taken (like A Small Orange where I would like to register it of course).

Geez! Can anybody please shine some light on this? Thanks!
 

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There are numerous possible reasons for this. RedemptionPeriod is not necessarily supported by all registrars verbatim, others call it the "On Hold" time period, and still others call it a "Pending delete". Each lookup service has its own policies regarding status of this type, some allow auctions to bid for it once the window expires, others set a baseline fee, etc. Also, DNS in general is not stored in one central repository or server. Lots of domain listings are cached in local proxies and it not everthing is in perfect sync when time sensitive records get updated so the time period itself might not be the same. The only status that matters is from the database of the registrar who hosts the domain currently.

-jim

ps: If you ever want to see the zone file for a given domain, i.e. to determine if the zone was ever setup at all...

1) Go to whois.com to find out the primary nameserver name.
2) In your terminal (shell) type in:

dig @ns1.name_server_name.com thedomain.com in axfr

Substitute ns1.name_server_name.com for the primary nameserver name and thedomain.com with the name of the domain you are researching.

Example results for macrumors.com:

[3] [root $] [~] > dig @ns1.tecknohost.com macrumors.com in axfr

; <<>> DiG 9.2.4 <<>> @ns1.tecknohost.com macrumors.com in axfr
; (1 server found)
;; global options: printcmd
macrumors.com. 3600 IN SOA ns2.tecknohost.com. support.tecknohost.com. 207 86400 3600 2419200 86400
macrumors.com. 720 IN MX 40 macrumors.com.
macrumors.com. 720 IN A 74.86.132.180
macrumors.com. 3600 IN NS d3.tecknohost.com.
macrumors.com. 3600 IN NS ns1.tecknohost.com.
macrumors.com. 3600 IN NS ns2.tecknohost.com.
att.macrumors.com. 3600 IN A 74.86.225.88
beta.macrumors.com. 3600 IN A 74.86.132.180
buyersguide.macrumors.com. 3600 IN A 74.86.132.180
emac.macrumors.com. 3600 IN A 74.86.132.180
feeds.macrumors.com. 3600 IN CNAME feeds.feedburner.com.
forums.macrumors.com. 720 IN A 74.86.210.200
forums.macrumors.com. 720 IN A 74.86.227.40
ftp.macrumors.com. 3600 IN CNAME macrumors.com.
guides.macrumors.com. 3600 IN A 74.86.225.88
ibook.macrumors.com. 3600 IN A 74.86.132.180
imac.macrumors.com. 3600 IN A 74.86.132.180
images.macrumors.com. 720 IN A 74.86.132.183
iphone.macrumors.com. 3600 IN A 74.86.132.180
ipod.macrumors.com. 3600 IN A 74.86.132.180
itunes.macrumors.com. 3600 IN A 74.86.132.180
jobs.macrumors.com. 3600 IN CNAME customdomainname.jobthread.com.
localhost.macrumors.com. 3600 IN A 127.0.0.1
macbook.macrumors.com. 3600 IN A 74.86.132.180
macbookpro.macrumors.com. 3600 IN A 74.86.132.180
macmini.macrumors.com. 3600 IN A 74.86.132.180
macpro.macrumors.com. 3600 IN A 74.86.132.180
mirror.macrumors.com. 60 IN A 67.202.47.166
mirror.macrumors.com. 60 IN A 75.101.196.117
mirror.macrumors.com. 60 IN A 75.101.246.22
mobile.macrumors.com. 3600 IN A 74.86.132.180
page2.macrumors.com. 3600 IN A 74.86.132.180
powerbook.macrumors.com. 3600 IN A 74.86.132.180
powermac.macrumors.com. 3600 IN A 74.86.132.180
shop.macrumors.com. 3600 IN A 74.86.132.180
spy.macrumors.com. 3600 IN A 74.86.225.88
summaries.macrumors.com. 3600 IN A 74.86.132.180
wap.macrumors.com. 3600 IN A 74.86.132.180
www.macrumors.com. 720 IN CNAME macrumors.com.
xserve.macrumors.com. 3600 IN A 74.86.132.180
macrumors.com. 3600 IN SOA ns2.tecknohost.com. support.tecknohost.com. 207 86400 3600 2419200 86400
;; Query time: 64 msec
;; SERVER: 75.125.164.34#53(75.125.164.34)
;; WHEN: Mon Feb 9 09:36:39 2009
;; XFR size: 41 records
 
Jim-

Thank you very much for your expertise on the subject and a clear explanation of the possible reasons. The idea that the records can vary with no central depository certain fits the symptoms to a T.

Thanks again!
 
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