[Announce] NamecoinUs - Public DNS, Inline Proxy, Whois Server

[lebish]

Work is finished on a new namecoin projected called NamecoinUs over at http://www.namecoin.us/

It bridges the namecoin registrations to map .bit domains to the "old" Internet DNS system to make access easy/easier for those who don't have .bit DNS resolution installed or don't know how to do it.

There's two basic concepts:
* Direct mapping: http://example.bit => http://example.namecoin.us
* In-line proxying: http://example.bit => http://example.bit.namecoin.us

Some Features:
* Works with both A and NS Namecoin records. (With NS records it mirrors the authoritative A result.)
* Synchronized with the Namecoin network every 5 minutes.
* Inline proxying when you use "http://example.bit.namecoin.us" (notice the extra ".bit") (Experimental)
* Completely distributed DNS network, multiple data centers.
* All tier 1 bandwidth providers, multi-gigabit connectivity.
* Records served from ram, super fast clusters.

Namecoin stuff:
* Mining time calculator: http://www.namecoin.us/tools/generate-block.php
* Namecoin domain value syntax checker: http://www.namecoin.us/tools/syntax-checker.php

Whois Server:
* Public WHOIS server at http://whois.namecoin.us/, works with any normal whois client:
* $ whois -h whois.namecoin.us example.bit
* AJAX version for hotlinking available, ex: http://whois.namecoin.us/yourdomain.bit
* Web-friendly version: http://www.namecoin.us/tools/whois-lookup.php

What's New:
* Pools page with live stats: http://www.namecoin.us/pools.php
* Namecoin expired domains tracker: http://www.namecoin.us/expires.php

More information is in the FAQ.

Coming someday:
* Statistics with graphs and stuff
* Opt-in/out [if this is wanted?] for domain owners
* Suggestions?

There are six nameservers you can use: ns0.namecoin.us, ns1.namecoin.us, ns2.namecoin.us, ns3.namecoin.us, ns4.namecoin.us, ns5.namecoin.us

Any and all feedback/comments/suggestions/requests/bugs/spare namecoins welcome! Big thanks to everyone in #namecoin chat who has helped with all the random questions too

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[lebish]

I've just added a web-based Namecoin whois tool and a few others:

* Web-based whois tool -- http://www.namecoin.us/tools/whois-lookup.php
* .bit whois server -- http://whois.namecoin.us/
* Domain price calculator -- http://www.namecoin.us/tools/domain-cost.php
* Block generation estimator -- http://www.namecoin.us/tools/generate-block.php

[lebish]

Le Fun Updates!

* Whois server now supports updated draft spec (info, email, location, etc)
* Easy whois URLs: http://whois.namecoin.us/example.bit or http://whois.namecoin.us/deepbit.bit
* Added downloads section with source and Windows build: http://www.namecoin.us/downloads.php [thanks vinced and grue!]
* Syntax checker to verify the value section or a potential update of a Namecoin domain is valid: http://www.namecoin.us/tools/syntax-checker.php

Le Lame Updates!

* Whois server much more stable
* Page for whois server ajax-ified

--

Feedback, suggestions, etc welcome!

[carlerha]

It's a great idea, but unfortunately it doesn't work when a .bit site uses vhosts. I don't know if this is used by a large % of the hosted domains, but at least for me it's 100%

[gigabytecoin]

Amazing idea! Keep up the great work!

[doublec]

It's a great idea, but unfortunately it doesn't work when a .bit site uses vhosts. I don't know if this is used by a large % of the hosted domains, but at least for me it's 100%

The .bit sites need to add a vhost entry for theirsite.namecoin.us. Some of them have done this, but yes, it's a pain.

[khal]

It's a great idea, but unfortunately it doesn't work when a .bit site uses vhosts. I don't know if this is used by a large % of the hosted domains, but at least for me it's 100%

The .bit sites need to add a vhost entry for theirsite.namecoin.us. Some of them have done this, but yes, it's a pain.

That's why he has done a proxy too, with theirsite.bit.namecoin.us which works with all .bit domains.

[lebish]

Amazing idea! Keep up the great work!

Thanks!

It's a great idea, but unfortunately it doesn't work when a .bit site uses vhosts. I don't know if this is used by a large % of the hosted domains, but at least for me it's 100%

The .bit sites need to add a vhost entry for theirsite.namecoin.us. Some of them have done this, but yes, it's a pain.

That's why he has done a proxy too, with theirsite.bit.namecoin.us which works with all .bit domains.

^ that  

[lebish]

More Updates!

* Added a page for pools (pool owners contact me and i'll add your live stats!)
* Fallback Whois server for increased stability

[lebish]

Just added a way to track expiring namecoin domains, let me know if you find any bugs:

http://www.namecoin.us/expires.php

[twobits]

Looks nice.  I have yet to ever see any alternative roots get any significant uptake,  though the namecoin idea of a distributed
registration service would be nice to see take off.  Since the us govt is the one who seizes the most domains though, why did you pick the us domain to run it from?  Would it make sense to at least offer another tld just in case?  Or is the idea that if the government shuts it down, it would already have sites people wanted to see, and show the problem more clearly and get people to change to resolve the .bit root directly?

[lebish]

Thanks!

Since the us govt is the one who seizes the most domains though, why did you pick the us domain to run it from?  Would it make sense to at least offer another tld just in case?

When I was looking for domains, it was the cheapest namecoin.* domain, so I grabbed it. You're right, I need to get it on more domains for sure. I have namecoin.ch and just added it to my list of things to get done. The DNS servers are already distributed around the world so they should always be reachable by IP and they should always fulfill the request.

Or is the idea that if the government shuts it down, it would already have sites people wanted to see, and show the problem more clearly and get people to change to resolve the .bit root directly?

The second part you mentioned I never really thought of, but the irony would be noteworthy for sure. Does anyone know of what kind of legal challenges similar services (like dyndns, noip, etc) have had and how they deal with takedowns?

Namecoin Us is a *tiny* sliver of the overall namecoin community. Even if some authority comes after namecoin.us/ch (soon  ), there are MANY other ways to resolve that domain. In the end, no one can touch a namecoin domain except the person with the correct wallet.dat -- which is the ultimate goal.