System, method, and article of manufacture for maintaining and accessing a whois database

• US 20020026439A1
• Filed: 06/29/2001
• Published: 02/28/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: VeriSign, Inc.
• Original Assignee: VeriSign, Inc.
• Inventors: Monroe, Steven C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,467,140 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/95 Retrieval from the web
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/45 Network directories; Name-to-address mapping
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4511 using domain name system [DNS]

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for maintaining and accessing a whois database. In one embodiment, modifications to a registrar database that includes information about domain names are tracked, and based on the tracked modifications, one or more records that include modified information about the domain names are identified. Unique identifiers for the identified one or more records are determined and are used to reflect the modifications in the whois database. The modifications are tracked on a real-time basis and are reflected in the whois database on an hourly or a real-time basis.

Claims

1. A method for maintaining a whois database, the method comprising:

tracking modifications to a registrar database including information about domain names;

identifying in the registrar database one or more records including modified information about the domain names based on the tracked modifications;

determining identifiers for the identified one or more records, respectively; and

reflecting the tracked modifications in the whois database based on the determined identifiers.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the reflecting the tracked modifications in the whois database based on the determined identifiers comprises:

retrieving the identified records from the registrar database based on the determined identifiers; and

updating the whois database based on the retrieved records.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the tracking modifications to the registrar database comprises tracking modifications to the registrar database on a real-time basis.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the reflecting the tracked modifications in the whois database comprises reflecting the tracked modifications in the whois database on a real-time-basis.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the reflecting the tracked modifications in the whois database comprises reflecting the tracked modifications in the whois database on an hourly basis.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising accessing the whois database using a java database connectivity (JDBC) interface.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the tracking modifications to the registrar database comprises tracking modifications to the registrar database on a real-time basis.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the reflecting the tracked modifications in the whois database comprises reflecting the tracked modifications in the whois database on a real-time basis.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the reflecting the tracked modifications in the whois database comprises reflecting the tracked modifications in the whois database on an hourly basis.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

creating a flat file database based on the whois database;

creating at least one index file to retrieve information from the flat file database;

receiving a request for information about a domain name; and

retrieving the requested information from the flat file database based on the at least one index file.

11. A system, comprising:

a memory including a program that

tracks modifications to a registrar database including information about domain names,

identifies in the registrar database one or more records including modified information about the domain names based on the tracked modifications,

determines identifiers for the identified one or more records, respectively, and

reflects the tracked modifications in the whois database based on the determined identifiers; and

a processor that runs the program.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising a java database connectivity (JDBC) interface for accessing the whois database.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the program further:

creates a flat file based on the whois database;

creates at least one index file to retrieve information from the flat file database;

receives a request for information about a domain name; and

retrieves the requested information from the flat file database based on the at least one index file.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the program tracks modifications to a registrar database including information about domain names on a real-time basis and reflects the tracked modifications in the whois database based on the determined identifiers on a real-time basis.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the tracking modifications to the registrar database comprises tracking modifications to the registrar database on a real-time basis.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, where the reflecting the tracked modifications in the whois database comprises reflecting the tracked modifications in the whois database on a real-time basis.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the reflecting the tracked modifications in the whois database comprises reflecting the tracked modifications in the whois database on an hourly basis.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises accessing the whois database using a java database connectivity (JDBC) interface.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises:

creating a flat file database based on the whois database;

creating at least one index file to retrieve information from the flat file database;

receiving a request for information about a domain name; and

retrieving the requested information from the flat file database based on the at least one index file.

15. A computer-readable medium containing instructions for maintaining a whois database, the method comprising:

tracking modifications to a registrar database including information about domain names;

identifying in the registrar database one or more records including modified information about the domain names based on the tracked modifications;

determining identifiers for the identified one or more records, respectively; and

reflecting the tracked modifications in the whois database based on the determined identifiers.