I was underwhelmed at the ‘safe’ domain search agents available. I particular encountered trust issues with some of the bigger registrars out there – including godaddy.com and hostgator.

Two options that have worked well for me so far (in that, I cannot discern any name grabbing happening)

  1. Suso’s Safer Domain Availability Checker 
  2. Whois query directly from your windows (or Mac, Linux) computer

The second option is the SAFEST – since it involves no middle servers to speak of (nowhere that the search query can be logged).

Download the whois client for windows 

Type the following in a command prompt window

whois [-v] domainname

Summary : It is hard enough finding an available domain name. Add to that the frustration of not knowing whether your registrar will truly help you check it’s availability – and you run into a lose-lose situation.

 

The two search options listed above have worked well for me. I have managed to register whatever I searched for. If you know of other safe search options, do share.

Anuj holds professional certifications in Google Cloud, AWS as well as certifications in Docker and App Performance Tools such as New Relic. He specializes in Cloud Security, Data Encryption and Container Technologies.

Initial Consultation

Anuj Varma – who has written posts on Anuj Varma, Hands-On Technology Architect, Clean Air Activist.