Krossat

I am in the process of creating a webapp where i will need to access the whois data returned by a web service of different domain names (primarily TLD's).

Please let me know which is the best and most affordable whois web service out there? I need a web service only as i will have to put the whois functionality on a web page as well as in a script.

Thanks for the help
Kross.

Daniel

Whois scripts are fairly simple, you just need to ping the WHOIS servers with the required data, typical just the name.

Try Googling.

Dan

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Krossat

Yup i did google and got many.

Problem is some are not very dependable.
Had problems like:

1. Sometimes they give a No Result Error. No surety about whether the whois would be resolved.

2. Some dont do certain extensions / lengths of domains.

3. Servers return trash data.

4. Restriction on the number of querys in a period of time.

I also need to have a Web Service because its for my webscript as well as a local application which would gather the data and process it locally. Need to be able to call the webservice from a .net framework app.

I would like a dependable paid, unlimited querys server, for professional use. Cant get errors while the scripts are getting processed.

Peter

The problem with scripts and whois servers is that they can get blocked very quickly.

Ideally you should make a script that uses multiple whois servers for the main extensions you are going to use as a lot of whois servers give a limit on how many queries someone can make in x amount of time.

As it is something you would be possibly looking to pay for 1 possibility would be to look at http://xml-api.domaintools.com/ .They have an api. They only give you example PHP code but if you are well versed with .net (and the language you are using) you should be able to make use of it.

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Krossat

hmm yes i think that is the problem.

I've seen some applications like SmartWhois and others which take lists and do a mass whois, i think they might have registered accounts at multiple servers.

Are there online services who already provide unlimited whois and have in turn accounts in whois servers? Like they gather the data and provide the xml result?

Thanks for ur help
Really appreciate it!!


Edit:
Yess had a look at the page, i think they are giving away ~4300 queries a month (atleast a start ) for $35 and a bit more. I'll try it out. Sounds good!!!

Peter

It is most likely the case that they use multiple whois servers as you say. They possibly also cache results so that if others (or even you) carry out a whois on the same name within x amount of time they simply return the result they had already received.

I personally do not know of any but I would advise that you select carefully who you decide to use. Ensure that the are reputable and that they are not simply a fly by night otherwise you will find yourself having to change your applications.

Yes depending on your usage it is probably your best bet.

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Krossat

Thanks Peter

Also heard about using proxy to access the whois servers. Dont know whether its safe enough or legal to do the same.

There's this application to check available domains, which does bulk whois and upon failing jumps a proxy to retry. Everytime it fails it jumps a proxy to try again. If its a legal thing to do then i guess that could be another way?

All this is really interesting.