Method of determining unavailability of an internet domain name

• US 6,560,634 B1
• Filed: 08/13/1998
• Issued: 05/06/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Verisign Registry Services, Inc.
• Original Assignee: VeriSign, Inc.
• Inventors: Broadhurst, Larry Joe
• Primary Examiner(s): Burgess, Glenton B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): KUPSTAS, TOD A
• Application Number:
  US09/133,836
• Time in Patent Office: 1,727 Days
• Field of Search: 709/217, 709/224, 709/223, 709/219, 709/245, 709/227, 709/249, 709/203, 707/104, 707/500, 707/505
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/30 Managing network names, e.g. use of aliases or nicknames name-to-address mapping H04L61/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/3005 Mechanisms for avoiding name conflicts
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4511 using domain name system [DNS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/567 Integrating service provisioning from a plurality of service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture consistent with the present invention provide an improved query server that overcomes the shortcomings of existing domain name searching techniques by performing a multitude of searches simultaneously, transparent to the user. Specifically, the improved query server searches for existing domain name records in various domains and then displays the results in a formatted manner, thus eliminating the need for a user to perform individual searches.

Claims

1. A method in a data processing system with DNS servers, each responsible for maintaining registration records of domain names for an associated domain, comprising:

receiving user input containing a domain name, a plurality of domains and at least one search criterion corresponding to the plurality of domains;

transmitting a request for a search of the domain name to each of the DNS servers associated with the plurality of domains;

receiving search results from each of the DNS servers associated with the plurality of domains indicating, for each of the specified domains, whether a domain name record exists for the domain name in the specified domain; and

displaying the search results.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the results are sorted and formatted in a hypertext markup language.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting step further includes:

determining a number of search processes to spawn based on a number of specified domains; and

spawning the number of the search processes, wherein each search process queries at least one of the DNS servers.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving user input step includes:

reading a domain file to determine available domains; and

displaying the available domains to a user to enable the user to indicate the specified domains.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving user input step includes:

displaying a predetermined number of domains based on the at least one search criterion; and

indicating at least one of the predetermined number of domains as the specified domains.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the domain name record exists for the domain name for each specified domain; and

performing a query to obtain registration information for the domain name when the domain name record exists.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying an order form for registering the domain name in a specified domain.

8. A method in a data processing system with DNS servers, each responsible for maintaining registration records of domain names and other specialized fields for an associated domain, comprising:

receiving user input containing a domain name, a plurality of domains, and at least one search criterion corresponding to the plurality of domains;

transmitting a first request to a first DNS server to determine whether a domain name record exists in the domain associated with the first DNS server, said first request comprising said domain name and a first domain;

simultaneously transmitting a second request to a second DNS server to determine whether a domain name record exists in the domain associated with the second DNS server, said second request comprising said domain name and a second domain;

receiving search results from the first request and the second request indicating whether the domain name record exists in the domain associated with the first DNS server and indicating

whether the domain name record exists in the domain associated with the second DNS server; and

displaying the search results to a user.

9. A data processing system comprising:

a plurality of DNS servers, each DNS server configured to maintain registration records of domain names and other specialized fields for an associated domain; and

a query server containing;

a memory with a program configured to;

receive user input containing a domain name, a plurality of domains, and at least one search criterion corresponding to the plurality of domains;

transmit a request for a search of the domain name to each of the DNS servers associated with the plurality of domains; and

receive search results from each of the DNS servers associated with the plurality of domains indicating, for each of the specified domains, whether a domain name record exists in the specified domain;

a display configured to display the search results; and

a processor configured to run the program.

10. The data processing system of claim 9, wherein the program sorts and formats the search results in a hypertext markup language.

11. The data processing system of claim 9, wherein program contains a spawn component configured to determine a number of search processes to spawn based on a number of specified domains, and configured to spawn the number of the search processes, wherein each search process queries at least one of the DNS servers.

12. The data processing system of claim 9, wherein the program contains a component configured to:

display a predetermined number domains based on the at least one search criterion, and

receive an indication of at least one of the predetermined number of domains as the specified domains.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the program contains a registration component configured to:

examine the search results to determine whether a domain name record exists for each of the specified domains, and configured to perform a query on each DNS server to obtain registration information for the domain name when the domain name record exists.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the program contains an order component configured to:

create an order form for registering the domain name in a specified domain.

15. A computer-readable medium containing instructions, for controlling a data processing system to perform a method, the data processing system having DNS servers, each responsible for maintaining registration records of domain names and other specialized fields for an associated domain, the method comprising:

receiving user input containing a domain name, a plurality of domains, and at least one search criterion corresponding to the plurality of domains;

transmitting a request for a search of the domain name to each of the DNS servers associated with the plurality of domains;

receiving search results from each of the DNS servers associated with the plurality of domains indicating, for each of the specified domains, whether a domain name record exists in the specified domain; and

displaying the search results.

16. A method in a data processing system with DNS servers, each responsible for maintaining registration records of domain names for an associated domain, comprising:

receiving user input containing a domain name and specified ones of the domains, wherein the domains have an associated country with a gross domestic product;

displaying a predetermined number of domains based on the gross domestic product of the associated countries;

indicating at least one of the predetermined number of domains as the specified domains;

transmitting a request for a search of the domain name to the DNS servers associated with the specified domains;

receiving search results from the DNS servers associated with the specified domains indicating, for each of the specified domains, whether a domain name record exists for the domain name in the specified domain; and

displaying the search results.

17. A data processing system comprising:

a plurality of DNS servers, each DNS server configured to maintain registration information of domain names for an associated domain wherein each domain has an associated country with a gross domestic product;

a query server containing;

a memory with a program configured to

receive user input containing a domain name and specified ones of the domains;

transmit a request for a search of the domain name to the DNS servers associated with the specified domains,

receive search results from the DNS servers associated with the specified domains indicating, for each of the specified domains, whether a domain name record exists in the specified domain;

display a predetermined number of domains based on the gross domestic product of the associated countries, and

receive an indication of at least one of the predetermined number of domains as the specified domains;

a display configured to display the search results; and

a processor configured to run the program.