I personally don't feel that this is a reason for concern (very very small chance but yes it is possible). But there is a faster way anyway, cutting out web server not responding etc.
So in any case if you wanted to lessen that chance you could query any public nameserver, assuming you can trust that nameserver.
In a command window, using nslookup as an example, the process would be (using google public dns server but you can use anything that's the point):
nslookup
> server 8.8.8.8
Default server: 8.8.8.8
Address: 8.8.8.8#53
> skymarshal.com
Server: 8.8.8.8
Address: 8.8.8.8#53
Non-authoritative answer:
Name: skymarshal.com
Address: 208.91.197.26 (comment: name taken!)
> skymarshalxyz.com
Server: 8.8.8.8
Address: 8.8.8.8#53
server can't find skymarshalxyz.com: NXDOMAIN
> www.skymarkshalxyz.com (I made this up)
Server: 8.8.8.8
Address: 8.8.8.8#53
server can't find www.skymarkshalxyz.com: NXDOMAIN
> exit
"can't find" - name might be available - we have determined it's not resolving. Could be a dns issue of course but it's a good first step.
Doing with a browser can give you MORE of a false positive. DNS could respond with an address but the site could be down. Of course getting no response to DNS doesn't ALWAYS mean the domain is available but it's generally fairly accurate. At that point you would do a whois to confirm.
You can write a shell script of course to automate this from the command line.
That appears to be using nslookup (edit-"esq") to see if the domain resolves as a result of a test that I just ran. (Tried a name not in the zone file that IS taken (4L .com) - edit: it said it was available. Then tried a name that wasn't in the zone file and it took some time to determine if it was available. If it was comparing to the zone file there would be essentially no delay it would be a simple search. If I wanted to prove this I could register a name NOW, do the dns, and then do a query but I don't have time to do that. The zone file is only available once per day for download.
Also, it doesn't work for anything other than .com.
And if you hit "search" it sends you to godaddy.
All in all I think it makes more sense to simply find a dns server that you can trust OR get a hold of the zone file and query that (safest way actually). My personal feeling though is that this is all a non-issue.
Comments
That was my first thought too. Any time I search for a domain name these days, my process goes something like:
1. Enter it into a web browser, see if it's in use or parked
2. If not, run whois on it at the commandline.
3. If not, decide whether I want to buy it. If so, do so right away, otherwise assume it will be lost in a day or so.
And I'm not even 100% sure I can trust the browser search, depending on what the DNS server I happen to be on does with failed lookups.
I personally don't feel that this is a reason for concern (very very small chance but yes it is possible). But there is a faster way anyway, cutting out web server not responding etc.
So in any case if you wanted to lessen that chance you could query any public nameserver, assuming you can trust that nameserver.
In a command window, using nslookup as an example, the process would be (using google public dns server but you can use anything that's the point):
nslookup
> server 8.8.8.8
Default server: 8.8.8.8
Address: 8.8.8.8#53
> skymarshal.com
Server: 8.8.8.8
Address: 8.8.8.8#53
Non-authoritative answer:
Name: skymarshal.com
Address: 208.91.197.26 (comment: name taken!)
> skymarshalxyz.com
Server: 8.8.8.8
Address: 8.8.8.8#53
server can't find skymarshalxyz.com: NXDOMAIN
> www.skymarkshalxyz.com (I made this up)
Server: 8.8.8.8
Address: 8.8.8.8#53
server can't find www.skymarkshalxyz.com: NXDOMAIN
> exit
"can't find" - name might be available - we have determined it's not resolving. Could be a dns issue of course but it's a good first step.
Doing with a browser can give you MORE of a false positive. DNS could respond with an address but the site could be down. Of course getting no response to DNS doesn't ALWAYS mean the domain is available but it's generally fairly accurate. At that point you would do a whois to confirm.
You can write a shell script of course to automate this from the command line.
You can safely use http://instantdomainsearch.com. It was written by a YC alum. Lots of companies we've funded have found names there.
That appears to be using nslookup (edit-"esq") to see if the domain resolves as a result of a test that I just ran. (Tried a name not in the zone file that IS taken (4L .com) - edit: it said it was available. Then tried a name that wasn't in the zone file and it took some time to determine if it was available. If it was comparing to the zone file there would be essentially no delay it would be a simple search. If I wanted to prove this I could register a name NOW, do the dns, and then do a query but I don't have time to do that. The zone file is only available once per day for download.
Also, it doesn't work for anything other than .com.
And if you hit "search" it sends you to godaddy.
All in all I think it makes more sense to simply find a dns server that you can trust OR get a hold of the zone file and query that (safest way actually). My personal feeling though is that this is all a non-issue.
May I suggest they change the default registrar from GoDaddy to something else?