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Outside DNS Entries Pointing into UO Network Address Blocks Prohibited
Jon Miyake
miyake@oregon.uoregon.edu
The University of Oregon uses IP addresses in the 128.223.0.0/16 netblock,
and provides forward and reverse domain name service for those addresses from
several name servers.
Domain name service allows symbolic host names (e.g., darkwing.uoregon.edu)
to be translated into numeric IP addresses (such as 128.223.142.13). As you
might expect, reverse domain name services do the opposite, allowing numeric
IP addresses to be resolved into symbolic host names.
Users who want to register a host name in the uoregon.edu domain customarily
do so by filling out a form provided by Network Services (http://ns.uoregon.edu/get_connected/ip_request.html)
At the time a host is registered, a static IP address is issued.
Occasionally, we encounter users who have registered a non-uoregon.edu domain
name against an address from the University of Oregon's address block (128.223.0.0/16).
Unless prior written authorization from the Computing Center has been obtained
for such a registration, this is not permitted.
Problems in this area seem to arise most often in conjunction with so-called
dynamic DNS services such as dyndns.org, yi.org, or myip.org, which attempt
to make DHCP'd (temporarily assigned) addresses act like static addresses, which
they are not.
The other time we commonly see DNS-related problems is when an organization
attempts to register a new non-uoregon.edu domain, and the organization then
attempts to "park" that non-uoregon.edu domain within the university's
netblock. Again, unless prior permission has been obtained, this is not allowed
(regardless of whether the domain to be parked is a .com domain name,
a .org domain name, or something else). The controlling issue here is,
as noted in the Addendum to the University's Acceptable Use Policy, that:
"It is inappropriate for any third party organization's
primary Web pages to be served from a University Web server, even if such pages
are offered on a volunteer basis without remuneration and with no commercial
content thereon; exceptions to this policy need to be approved by the University."
If you have any questions about either of these domain name issues, feel free
to contact Jon Miyake at
miyake@oregon.uoregon.edu