As a new member of nominet and forum lurker here for a while I am now planning to write my own drop catching script for uk domains.
Just for background, I plan to use php (as it is the scripting language I am most comfortable with, and should cope with this task well) on a P4 server with 2 gig ram. I have done some speed tests and it appears to be easily fast enough for the number of queries that can be performed with the DAC.
I am keen to include as many worthwhile features as I am capable of writing and I have listed some of my ideas, but I am keen to see what features you use and couldn't do without, or wish you had.
My list:
I am not after trade secrets (although if you want to share...), and all thoughts, ideas and feedback on what makes a good drop catching script is appreciated.
Just for background, I plan to use php (as it is the scripting language I am most comfortable with, and should cope with this task well) on a P4 server with 2 gig ram. I have done some speed tests and it appears to be easily fast enough for the number of queries that can be performed with the DAC.
I am keen to include as many worthwhile features as I am capable of writing and I have listed some of my ideas, but I am keen to see what features you use and couldn't do without, or wish you had.
My list:
- A variable 'throttle' which can vary the queries per second to the DAC (from say 1 per second through to 16 per second, which is close to the maximum allowed over a minute).
- A way to prioritise domains, so a domain identified with a higher percieved value can get a greater share of the DAC requests over a 'normal' domain.
- If a domain is either won or lost, it is automatically removed from the list so DAC request won't be wasted.
- A pre-nom alarm (although I am not sure what this looks like at the moment). Perhaps if the script detects a pre-nom is either won or lost, all requests switch to pre-noms only and the throttle is set to maximum automatically. (This assumes that a whole chunk of pre-noms will drop on the same day)
I am not after trade secrets (although if you want to share...), and all thoughts, ideas and feedback on what makes a good drop catching script is appreciated.