Those who encounter domain name registration with an official registrar for the first time often face uncertainty. For example, it’s not entirely clear when the domain starts “working” after payment, how it is maintained, and what to do if the renewal deadline is missed. To understand these issues, it’s important to know the basic principles of the domain name system and have an idea about the different phases of a domain’s “lifecycle.” Let’s take a closer look.
Structure of the Domain Name System
DNS (Domain Name System) is a distributed hierarchical database in which records about the components of a domain name, belonging to different hierarchy levels, are stored separately. Each level is managed by its own DNS server, so all operations for handling the domain name address space are carried out by a chain of interconnected DNS servers.
Top-level DNS servers can be distinguished separately — they process the highest part of the name and belong to the top-level domain zone.
Thus, it becomes necessary to define the components of different levels that together form the domain name.
A domain name is read from right to left. At the top of the hierarchy is the so-called root level, which may be empty or denoted by the “.” symbol. Next comes the first (top) level, which usually consists of two or three characters — the zone indicator.
Then follow the second and sometimes the third levels, which specify the purpose of the web resource or its country of origin. For example, this could be the name of a company or the type of business.
For example, in “uk.wikipedia.org.”:
- “wikipedia” is the second level,
- “uk” is the third level, indicating the national affiliation of the domain.
The full domain name consists of a set of names for each hierarchy level, separated by a “.” character.
Organizational Structure of Domain Commercialization
The management of Internet names and address structures is handled by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) — a public organization representing the interests of the global Internet community. It establishes the rules for the functioning of the domain system.
ICANN has created a distributed network of domain registrars — commercial companies that have obtained the necessary certification. They are required to comply with ICANN’s rules and policies. Often, hosting providers act as registrars, combining this activity with offering web hosting services.
Main Phases of the Domain Lifecycle
Each domain, regardless of the zone type, goes through several key phases:
- Free
- Registration
- Active
- Hold
- Redemption Period
- Pending Delete
Let’s look at these in more detail.
Free
This is the phase when a domain name is available for registration by anyone (or with some restrictions, depending on the zone type). It also means the domain has no existing history in DNS registries.
Registration
When a domain name is ordered on a registrar’s website and paid for, the registration process in the DNS registry database begins.
The process may take up to 24 hours after payment, depending on DNS database updates.
Additional delays in resource availability may occur due to cached data on DNS servers or in the user’s browser.
Active
During this phase, the domain is active on the network and available to everyone.
It can function indefinitely if the owner renews it on time.
The minimum registration period is 1 year, and the maximum for a single payment is 10 years.
Hold
This phase starts after the renewal payment is overdue by at least one year.
During this period, the domain is deactivated, and the resource becomes unavailable.
Duration — from 27 to 44 days (depending on the zone type).
The renewal cost remains standard. Once paid, the domain resumes operation within a few hours.
Redemption Period
This phase begins automatically after the Hold period ends.
The domain is unavailable online and can only be restored by making an increased payment, usually significantly higher than the standard renewal price.
The amount depends on the registrar’s policy.
Duration — from 30 to 180 days.
Pending Delete
This phase occurs if the owner fails to make the payment during the previous period.
Duration — 5–6 days.
During this time, the process of completely removing domain records from the registry begins.
The domain can no longer be restored.
After this phase ends, the domain returns to the Free state and becomes available for new registration.
Conclusions
It’s important to remember: if a website stops working due to an overdue payment, it drops out of search engine databases, and its rankings start to decline rapidly.
Therefore, you should avoid letting your domain enter any phase other than Active.