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Frequently asked questions

  • I am looking for a domain name registrant. Where can I look it up?

    The Whois is an easy-to-use tool for checking the availability of a .nl domain name. If the domain name is already taken, you can see who has registered it.

    On the page looking up a domain name you will find more information about what a domain name is, how the Whois works and how the privacy of personal data is protected. Alternatively, you can go straight to look for a domain name via the Whois.

  • I would like to transfer my domain name to another registrar. What is the procedure?

    To get your domain name transferred, you need the token (unique ID number) for your domain name. Your existing registrar has the token and is obliged to give it to you within five days, if you ask for it. The procedure for changing your registrar is described on the page transferring your domain name.

  • The details registered about me/my company are incorrect or out of date. How can I get them updated?

    To update the contact details associated with your domain name, you need to contact your registrar. Read more about updating contact details.

  • Why is my domain name in quarantine?

    When a domain name is cancelled, we aren't told the reason, so we can't tell you. You'll need to ask your registrar. The advantage of quarantine is that, if a name's cancelled by mistake, you can always get it back.

    One common reason is that the contract between you and your registrar says you've got to renew the registration every year. If you haven't set up automatic renewal and you don't renew manually, the registration will expire.

  • Ik heb een klacht over mijn provider/registrar. Kan ik daarvoor bij SIDN terecht?

    Wanneer je een klacht hebt over of een geschil met je registrar dan zijn er verschillende mogelijkheden om tot een oplossing te komen. Hierover lees je meer op pagina klacht over registrar. SIDN heeft geen formele klachtenprocedure voor het behandelen van een klacht over jouw registrar.

  • What conditions do I have to meet as a registrar?

    Would you like to be able to register domain names for customers or for your own organisation by dealing directly with SIDN? If so, you can become a .nl registrar. Read more about the conditions and how to apply for registrar status on the page becoming a registrar.

More frequently asked questions

Amazon adds virtual IPv6-only networks and hosts to AWS

Other providers show that IPv6-only can offer significant savings

Amazon logo on office building
  • Friday 4 February 2022

Amazon has recently introduced IPv6-only networks and Virtual Private Servers. By offering IPv6-only, the cloud service giant is following a path already trodden by PCextreme, TransIP, Ungleich and other providers.

What Amazon is now offering as part of AWS is virtual IPv6-only subnetworks (within a dual-stack Virtual Private Cloud or VPC) and virtual hosts (on their Nitro-platform, based on the KVM hypervisor).

For users, the advantage is that applications requiring numerous IP addresses – to spread a heavy workload across a large number of machines, for example – can now be run on an IPv6-only infrastructure. Amazon will initially be providing the services to the US government, which earlier this year announced a strategy for the mandatory migration of federal agencies to IPv6-only.

Much less abuse

By contrast, the IPv6-only propositions of Dutch provider PCextreme and Swiss counterpart Ungleich are aimed mainly at the small business market. PCextreme offers customers a discount of a few euros on an IPv6-only VPS. However, CTO Wido den Hollander has previously told us that IPv6-only is also advantageous for PCextreme itself. "We want to appeal to people who fancy giving IPv6 a try. We profile ourselves as technical service providers, so someone who tries out a server like this may well find what we offer commercially attractive."

With IPv6, the practice of port scanning seen with IPv4 simply isn't possible. As a result, there is also much less abuse. "If a customer's server gets hacked and starts scanning the entire IPv4 address space, you've got a big job on your hands. Hackers can do that with IPv4, because the address space is only four billion addresses. With IPv6, your internal address space alone is much bigger than that. So a hacker hasn't got a hope of scanning the whole internet. So IPv6-only servers have the big advantage of being quiet. With traditional set-ups, abuse is a major cost item – mainly because of the manual response that's required – and we'd like to be rid of that cost."

IPv4 unsustainable

Swiss service provider Ungleich regards IPv6 as integral to a future-proof business model. Alongside the traditional dual-stack systems, the company has been offering IPv6-only VMs for several years. In order to ensure full access to the services running on the IPv6-only systems – that is, access for all internet users, including those on IPv4 – Ungleich deploys various protocol-specific IPv6-IPv4 (reverse) proxy servers. Where necessary, the company also develops proxies itself. According to CEO Nico Schottelius, the majority of the IPv6-only VMs are used to provide web services, and the set-up described provides adequate accessibility from the IPv4 internet. Over in the UK, Mythic Beasts has been operating a very similar IPv6-only hosting service for several years.

For Ungleich, IPv6 is a natural part of a wider proposition. "Our whole company is geared to sustainability," Schottelius told us some time ago. "We use 100 per cent renewable energy, for example, and we're a zero-carbon provider. But that's not all: we use repurposed buildings in the Glarus canton and our (refurbished) servers have no active cooling. We also support the local community with knowledge and affordable digital services."

"Our focus on IPv6 is a natural part of that philosophy: IPv4 is unsustainable, for us, for users and for content providers. If we didn't push IPv6, we'd be neglecting our customers' long-term interests."

Significant savings

Whereas Amazon is mainly aiming to tap into a new market with its IPv6-only proposition, PCextreme and Ungleich have a more strategic IPv6 vision for themselves and their customers. Both companies report a healthy level of demand for their IPv6-only services. Indeed, as this case study of Australian telecoms provider Telstra shows, investing in IPv6 rather than IPv4 can even deliver significant savings.

At SIDN, we're seeking to shift the investment tipping point for registrars through our incentive scheme, which offers a discount on the price of a domain name registration if IPv6 is supported.

Meanwhile, SIDN Labs' most recent annual IPv6-only experiment found that a considerable portion of the global IPv6 infrastructure is now functioning well.