DNS policy
The stated criteria for serving a non-VU domain in VU DNS servers.
Original December 1998; revised February 2001.
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What follows is the current "stated criteria for serving a non-VU domain in VU DNS servers", a description of the detailed requirements for a qualifying domain name registration, and a summary of the procedure for obtaining service for a non-VU domain in the VU DNS servers. The "stated criteria" text is revised from the original December 1998 text, primarily to add the requirement that a written statement of sponsorship and intended compliance with the criteria be provided by the sponsoring individual.
This is the current statement on use of the VU domain name services (which ITS operates for the University) to serve non-Vanderbilt domain names. Vanderbilt domain names are those registered and owned by Vanderbilt (at large) to represent Vanderbilt's presence in the Internet. Practically, the Vanderbilt domain names consist of vanderbilt.edu, relevant VU-owned IP network reverse mapping domains, and domains such as vanderbilt.org which have been obtained to protect names associated with Vanderbilt in the Internet domain name space.
Observe that ITS has no monopoly on these services; anyone can attempt to register anything that is desired and use any cooperating, or purchased, domain name service(s). In particular, no organization, service, or individual is technically precluded from operating domain name service(s) for any domain name(s) that they wish using computer equipment that they operate attached to Vanderbilt's network (and thus to the Internet and Internet II).
The question for ITS is whether it is appropriate to serve a requested domain name in Vanderbilt's domain name service.
The criteria that ITS has applied in accepting such requests include the following requirements:
- Only domain name registrations that are clearly noncommercial, not-for-profit, and not for personal benefit are considered.
- Domain name registrations must be clearly acceptable to Vanderbilt administration from the point of view of associating the name and purpose with Vanderbilt's supported services.
- Domain name registrations should be evidently in Vanderbilt's (global) organizational interests...[this subsumes 2) in most instances.]
- Domain name registrations should be logically justified in obtaining service in Vanderbilt's domain name service by virtue of employing Vanderbilt's network, Internet connectivity, and (possibly) Vanderbilt owned computer systems for provision of services in the registered domain.
- Domain name registrations must be explicitly requested by, and registered for administrative and billing purposes under the name(s) of appropriate Vanderbilt faculty or administrative staff in their role(s) as Vanderbilt departmental staff. This or these Vanderbilt affiliated people and departments are the sponsor(s) of the registering organization's requested use of Vanderbilt's domain name services. The registration should identify the technical contact as Denson Burnum, via his so-called "NIC handle" (or network identifier), DB161, in the Network Solutions "whois" database.
- The responsible sponsoring person must provide a written statement of their sponsorship of the domain name service for the requested domain name in Vanderbilt's domain name servers and identify the sponsor's department and role at Vanderbilt. This statement should include assurance of intent to abide by the criteria itemized here. (It's suitable to do that by explicit reference to this text as an attachment, or as the ITS "stated criteria for serving a non-VU domain in VU DNS servers".) The statement should also include a short description of the purpose of the requested domain name and of the associated organization, group, or project. The statement can be provided to ITS via e-mail (to domain-name-service@v~.edu), fax, campus mail, or personal delivery.
If any of these criteria eventually fail to be met, then a previously justified domain name service registration should be reevaluated for disposal or transfer to another domain name service.
(End of "stated criteria for serving a non-VU domain in VU DNS servers.")
The following are details for the expected registration with the Internet domain name registrars (service vendors such as Network Solutions) for a domain name for which service in the VU DNS servers is requested.
- an appropriate domain name, preferably with an appropriate organization or project description;
- A Vanderbilt address for the registering organization or project;
- Vanderbilt faculty or administrative staff or Vanderbilt departmental-role contact information for the billing and administrative contacts, including phone numbers and e-mail addresses;
- Denson Burnum as the technical contact (via "NIC handle" db161)
- Vanderbilt's domain name servers as the domain
name servers for the registering domain:
ip-srv1.vanderbilt.edu 129.59.1.10
ip-srv2.vanderbilt.edu 129.59.2.10
ITS would like to see the proposed registration before it's submitted to verify suitability, but that's not a requirement. ITS will review the accomplished registration in any event.
The registration is accomplished and the associated fees are paid by the sponsoring individual or department or his or that department's support providers.
A written statement by the sponsoring individual to ITS, as indicated in the revised "stated criteria" (item 6), is the only other thing needed, from a procedural point of view. With a suitable registration and written statement of intended compliance from the qualified sponsor, ITS will proceed to configure service for the requested domain name in the VU DNS servers.
Note -- there is currently some interest in restricting passage of Internet network traffic representing DNS service requests to only specifically identified name server systems (to protect the Internet firewall). This could affect the statement included in the "stated criteria" text regarding technical restrictions on providing domain name service on any system at Vanderbilt. It should not otherwise affect a request for provision of domain name service on Vanderbilt's servers.
