Don’t shudder at the thought of EPP or how your business is going to integrate it into your current domain management and billing systems.
EPP should be praised and given the respect its worth for making our lives far simpler.
When we started out with ZA Domains, EPP was to the best of our understanding was a structured language in which we communicated with Uniforum’s servers, well we weren’t that far off.
Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) is the internationally recognized method of registering and managing domain names.
EPP commands consist of a structured xml command sent to an EPP server via SSL
How EPP works
EPP is a client-server protocol where all communications use XML as defined by a series of schemas.
A regular EPP Command between client and the EPP server include:
Client connects to EPP server over SSL.
Server identifies itself and the commands and extensions that it supports.
Client authenticates using a username and password.
Client polls the server to see if there are any notifications / responses waiting to be collected and then processes these responses.
Client issues commands to the EPP server, which then replies immediately with response status.
Client then idles until it has more commands to send, polling periodically for any notifications.
The Benefits of using EPP
Commands sent to and from the client and server are instant and all transactions happen in real time.
EPP follows international standards to help clients transfer or use the same methods across registrars.
Transactions between client and server are secured.
