Introduction

 
The Electronic Communications Planning Committee will approve requests for uc.edu and non-uc.edu domain name requests.

Requests for variations on the uc.edu domain name (whether for a physical server or a virtual server) will only be considered for major units, such as colleges, alumni, libraries, etc.
 

A. 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:

• authenticated access to files is available at all times by file transfer protocol (VPN is needed);
  
• files are backed up nightly;
  
• server is in a secure location;
  
• server is regularly updated with security patches and software updates;
  
• server hardware and software is maintained by UCIT. 
  
• secure (encrypted) transmission of data is available.
  
• Web traffic statistics are available.

Mission critical information and/or enterprise-wide services may be housed only on servers that meet the applicable Government and Regulatory Compliance rules for the data types residing on the server. Refer to http://www.uc.edu/infosec/compliance for an overview of the compliance requirements. Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Electronic Personnel Health Information (ePHI) and other restricted data must be safeguarded as required in the UC Data Protection policy.
 

B. Guidelines for Web address names.

• Website addresses shall be short and consistent with site-wide naming conventions.
  
• Standard format for Web addresses is college.uc.edu/department/ or server.uc.edu/department/.
  
• Names will adequately, appropriately and uniquely describe the unit/content, while keeping the address as short as possible.
  
• Use all lowercase letters.
  
• When necessary, use an underscore to separate words.
  
• Do not use spaces or any special characters (e.g., #, %).
  
• Whenever possible, do not repeat college, division or unit name when it already appears in the address. (e.g., uc.edu/ucchildcare/ or uc.edu/ucdisability_services/
• Avoid using the following reserved terms, including but not limited to (Full Listing):

A.admin
B.bin
C.lib, libs
D.etc
E.template

• Watch for inappropriate words within the address, especially when combining words.
   

C. Steps for requesting access.

1. The requestor must be a university department head or registered system administrator. Requests submitted by individual students will not be considered.
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 WebCommunications@uc.edu. 
3. 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" (https://webapps.uc.edu/ucit/networking/staticIP_request.asp) 
4. The NOC will forward the request to the Electronic Communication Planning Committee (ECPC) for approval. 
5. The ECPC will return the approved request to the NOC within three (3) business days, copying the requesting system administrator. 
6. NOC will make DNS additions/changes if necessary and notify system administrator when completed. 
7. System administrator will notify requestor that access is ready.
    

D. UC faculty, staff and students may request server space for personal websites. Go to http://ucfilespace.uc.edu/.
 

E. Web server system administrators must maintain an access list of staff, faculty and student Web developers to whom they grant Web server space. Administrators must remove names from the access list and remove access to servers for 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, the access list may be requested from UCIT Information Security and/or the Assistant Vice President for Web Communications. Form fields include the following:

• name of server on which files will reside
  
• site name(s)
• description/purpose of site 
• system administrator
  
• first and last name and job title of person responsible for site content/design
  
• department
  
• unit/division
  
• e-mail
  
• phone (on and off campus)
  
• mail location
  
• valid UC ID number
    

F. The university may provide limited Web server support for entities directly affiliated with the university. For information, refer to “Domain Name System (DNS) Requests” below. 
 

G. Domain Name System (DNS) Requests

• Introduction
  
  The Domain Name System (DNS) maps Internet Protocol (IP) numeric addressing schemes to descriptive names, so that individuals browsing the Internet do not have to remember numeric addresses.
  
  UCIT is responsible for administering the UC.EDU domain officially acquired by the University of Cincinnati. In this capacity, UCIT allocates, registers, arbitrates and maintains the "name space," guaranteeing best performance, fair use and compliance with DNS conventions and University of Cincinnati's policies.
   
• Nameservers
   
  All domains using university resources must reside on UCIT's domain name servers. UCIT is responsible for the security, operation and maintenance for the University of Cincinnati network (UCnet), 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
  
  
• Other Domains
  
  Support for non-uc.edu domains will be limited to entities directly affiliated with the university, and will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Electronic Communications Planning Committee in consultation with the Network Operations Center (NOC).
   
  In most instances, support for non-uc.edu names will only be provided for one domain name for a given site. If requesting more than one domain name (e.g., xxx.org and xxx.net), documentation must be included in the exception request (see below) that outlines the necessity for the variation from standard policy.
   
  All hostnames for machines on the 129.137.x.x UCnet will reside in the uc.edu domain or sub domain. Users may not register their own domains for machines on UCnet. Non-uc.edu domain names hosted by UC must be registered by the requestor at the requestor's expense.
  
  For an exception to this policy to be reviewed, the request must be initiated by the head of the requesting unit, using a UC e-mail address or departmental letterhead. Requests must include the following information:

1. a description of the purpose, function and nature of the organization and proposed domain name/website;
2. an explanation for how the organization and the website are tied to the mission of the university;
3. an explanation of how the requestor is associated or affiliated with the university;
4. affirmation that the request is not on behalf of a private business or commercial activity;
5. contact information, including mail, e-mail and telephone, for both on- and off-campus locations; and
6. agreement to terms and conditions for DNS hosting, and Web hosting if applicable, as established by the university. If request is approved, a provider agreement will be sent to you electronically.
 

Address requests for an exception to:

WebCommunications@uc.edu

Online IP Request Form.
 

Approved by the Electronic Communications Planning Committee and the Executive Technology Strategy Committee on 08/01/02. Revised 01/26/07; 10/01/10.