Typical Life Cycle of a Domain Name Source: SAC054

Domain Registration Process In order to reserve a domain, a registrant must register it with one of thousands of ICANN-accredited registrars. The registrar will check if the domain is available and create a WHOIS record with the registrant’s information. It is also possible to register domains through a registrar’s resellers Source: https://whois.icann.org/

Domain Registration Process Source: SAC054

SAC054 Domain Name Registration Data Model Registration data that may be collected includes Contact Data Set Contact information for registrant Contact information for registrar Operational Data Set For ongoing operation and maintenance of domain name Includes information about domain name: Name server, DNSSEC, optional information (reseller, trademark), information for renewal, transfer (losing and gaining registrar) Source: SAC054

SAC054 Domain Name Registration Data Model Tables Data Model for Contact Registrar Data Model Host Name Data Model Domain Name Data Model Registered Mark Information DNSSEC Information Model Partial tables shown here to illustrate just some of the registration data collected Source: SAC054

SOME OF THAT DATA IS INCLUDED IN WHOIS RECORDS – FOR EXAMPLE Source: https://whois.icann.org/

TODAY’S gTLD WHOIS SYSTEM USES THE WHOIS PROTOCOL TO PROVIDE PUBLIC ACCESS TO WHOIS DATA STORED BY EACH gTLD REGISTRY AND REGISTRAR Starting at WHOIS.IANA.ORG, follow the references to the downstream WHOIS servers until the queried WHOIS data is obtained. This process is illustrated above for a “thick” registry.   If the registry is “thin,” an additional query to the registrar’s datastore is required to obtain the WHOIS data for the requested domain name. Source: https://whois.icann.org/

SAMPLE RAW gTLD WHOIS RECORD (PAGE 1 OF 2)

SAMPLE RAW gTLD WHOIS RECORD (PAGE 1 OF 2)