Domain Naming Policy

Introduction

Web site addresses shall be short, intuitive and consistent with site-wide naming conventions. Maintaining such consistency and intuitiveness is a service to our Web visitors - Web addresses are easier to communicate and easier to remember.

1. Any university-affiliated department, program area or organization may request access to a university Web server to publish information about their unit. Although many units run their own Web servers, space is available on the university Web server. Benefits of using the university Web server include:
   1. authenticated access to files is available at all times by file transfer protocol (VPN is needed);
   2. files are backed up nightly;
   3. server is in a secure location;
   4. server is regularly updated with security patches and software updates;
   5. server hardware and software is maintained by UCit.
   6. secure (encrypted) transmission of data is available.
   7. Web traffic statistics are available.
      
      Mission critical information and/or enterprise-wide services may be housed only on servers that meet UCit standards.
      
      
2. Guidelines for Web address names.
   1. The committee will approve requests for variations on the uc.edu domain name (whether for a physical server or a virtual server) only to major units, such as colleges, alumni, libraries, etc.
   2. When a request for a domain name which doesn't include a leading "www" is approved, a second domain, which includes the leading "www," will also be generated.
   3. Preferred format: college.uc.edu/department/ or server.uc.edu/department/
   4. Names will adequately, appropriately and uniquely describe the unit/content, while keeping the address as short as possible.
   5. Do not use spaces or any special characters (e.g. #, %) and use all lowercase letters.
   6. When necessary, use a hyphen to separate words.
   7. Watch for inappropriate words within the address, especially when combining words.
      
      
3. Steps for requesting access.
   1. The person responsible for the area makes the server space request from the appropriate system administrator. The requestor must be a university faculty member or staff.
   2. To request space on the university main Web server, go to https://www.uc.edu/help/newsite.asp. Otherwise, request space from your Web server's system administrator. If you are unsure who your administrator is, contact your Information Technology Coordinator or department head for more information.
   3. If the request is for a new directory, the system administrator will use the guidelines in Section B for granting names. Jump to Step 8.
   4. If the request is for a new domain name or virtual server, the system administrator will forward the Web server space request to the Network Operations Center (NOC) as a "Static IP Request" (http://www.uc.edu/ucit/access/IP_Request_Form.html) to check for duplication.
   5. The NOC will forward the request to the Electronic Communication Planning Committee (ECPC) for approval.
   6. The ECPC will return the approved request to the NOC within three (3) business days, copying the requesting system administrator.
   7. NOC will make DNS additions/changes if necessary and notify system administrator when completed.
   8. System administrator will notify requestor that access is ready.
      
      
4. The university may provide limited Web server support for entities directly affiliated with the university. For information, refer to the Domain Name System (DNS) Policy.
   
5. Web server space for personal Web pages.
   UC faculty, staff and students may request server space for personal Web sites. Go to http://ucfilespace.uc.edu/.
   
6. System administrators must register any publicly available Web servers with the Network Operations Center. Requests for new server/domain names are made using the “Request a Static IP Address” online form.
   
7. Web server system administrators must maintain a listing of staff, faculty and student Web developers to whom they grant Web server space. Remove names of those who leave the university or are no longer responsible for Web development. In the event of UC policy violations or violation of local, state or federal laws, this information may be requested from UCit Information Security area and/or the Assistant Vice President for Web Communications. Form fields include the following:
   
   1. name of server on which files will reside
   2. system administrator
   3. first and last name of person responsible for site content/design
   4. account information (for verification purposes)
   5. department
   6. unit/division
   7. job title
   8. e-mail
   9. phone (on and off campus)
   10. mail location
   11. building room/name
   12. valid UC account/ID number
   13. description/purpose of site
       
       

Rev. 01/26/07. Approved by the Electronic Communications Planning Committee and the Executive Technology Strategy Committee. Originally approved 08/01/02.