Domain Name Registration and Deletion Cycle

Active Domain

The process starts with someone such as yourself going to a domain registrar and buying a domain. You are trully not buying the domain, in a sense you are leasing it for a period of time. That length of time can range from 1 year to 10 years.

You can also buy a domain from another business/person and take control for the remainder of that year or years that they have control of it. A full explanation will come in a further article.

Once you have purchased the domain name, your domain registrar will update its domain registry and from there the DNS (Domain Name Servers) around the world will update thier domain registry as well. This process takes on the average of 24-48 hours for the entire world to be updated.



Domain is Expired

This time of expiration for a domain name can range from 1-45 days. 45 days is the normal max but in some cases it may take longer to delete the record.

For example, say you wake up early New Years Day and register a domain name. If you register that domain for only 1 year, then exactly in one years time it will be expired. You are able to renew or add years to your current purchase at anytime.

Most domain registrars allow you to "transer" a domain to them and will charge you a lower price for the added year. As always, shop around if you are not happy with your current registrar.



Redemption Grace Period

The domain name is held by the registry for a 30 day period called the Redemption Grace Period. At this time no one is able to secure the domain name.



Deleting of Domain

The actual process of deleting a domain can take up to 5 days. This once again is due to the registry holding the domain.



Available Domain

Upon the release of the domain name it is available for anyone to register. It is a first come first serve.

Some companies now offer for a price of course the chance to "secure" or "reserve" a domain that is already taken. In every case that I have seen thus far, none guarantee anything expect that you will pay between $9 - 70 for a "chance" to be the new owner. If this is a domain you really must have, then by all means take the gamble.



Source : http://www.webhostingedge.com/webmaster/index.cfm/sub/domain-renewal-cycle.htm