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Domain Names

Modified version adopted by the Information Services Committee on 27-Aug-03;  original version adopted by the IT Policy Committee on 2-Sep-02.

Preamble:

The following elements of policy have been adopted in the assignment and use of domain names within the University of Western Australia.

The reasons for having some policies/guidelines are as follows:

(a) to ensure a degree of consistency in usage, in keeping with maintaining the University’s image as an effective exploiter of IT;
(b) to provide a basis for resolving any disputes that may arise in a relatively straightforward fashion;
(c) to protect relevant technical staff from accusations of unfairness in allocating names;
(d) to maximise opportunities for people outside the University to identify a UWA domain correctly;
(e) to facilitate management of the domain name space within the University.

Note that (fully qualified) domain names are merely a convenient way of representing “IP addresses”;  eg the domain name “cyllene.uwa.edu.au” represents the IP address “130.95.128.7”.  Internet accessing software (Web browsers, email servers, ftp servers, etc) generally sends messages addressed to the domain name, which is translated into the IP address at the nearest available Domain Name Server (DNS);  ITS maintains a DNS for UWA, which resolves addressing within the “uwa.edu.au” domain (cooperating with other DNS operated elsewhere within UWA to achieve full address resolution within UWA), and cooperates with external DNS worldwide for external address resolution.  Note also that it is possible to have aliases, viz names which map to the same IP address.  Domain names point to a computer on which systems and services are located.

It should also be noted that the administration of the “upper level” domain space “.au” has recently been vested in the non-profit company auDA (.au Domain Administration Ltd – see www.auDA.org.au), and it is expected that administration of the “.edu.au” domain space will remain within the Education sector, with AICTEC (www.aictec.edu.au) undertaking it.  Both these organisations have established guidelines for use of those namespaces, and this Policy is in harmony with those guidelines (should any discrepancy arise, then this Policy takes precedence);  see http://www.auda.org.au/policy/ (that for .edu.au is currently under development).

Policy:

  1. Domain names within the UWA name space at the level of “xxx.uwa.edu.au” will be allocated and administered by ITS.
  2. ITS will operate the main Domain Name Server (DNS) for the University.
  3. All domain names within the UWA IP address space must (subject to 12 below) be of the form “…xxx.uwa.edu.au”, where “xxx” identifies an organisation or a University-wide service.  In this context, “organisation” shall constitute any faculty, division, school, department, formal discipline group, centre or other discrete unit of the University.
  4. Domain names will not be allocated to individuals, only to formally recognised organisations within the University.
  5. Domain names must be meaningful, ie reflect the name of the organisation or University-wide service to which it is assigned, or an abbreviation of it.
  6. Wherever possible, consistency of naming and abbreviation will be adopted for domain names within the University.  However, there are situations where some other abbreviation, initials, shorthand or full name is preferred, perhaps because it has already been associated uniquely with that organisation in some other context, or could reasonably be expected to be so associated;  in such situations, this alternative name may be allowed (though the consistency may still be achieved through use of aliases).  UCS has a set of suitable names for Faculties and Schools, which all organisations within UWA are urged to employ.
  7. Domain names must be unique (not allocated to another party).  This will be checked by UCS on application.
  8. Subunits of an organisation, or services offered by an organisation, should normally be allocated names under that organisation’s name;  exceptions may exist for University-wide services or where that subunit has a clearly defined and well-established existence, and only where it has the support of the Head of the organisation.  For example, subunit “yyy” within organisation “xxx” should normally have the sub-domain name “yyy.xxx.uwa.edu.au”.
  9. Other than for subunits (as above), domain names should not attempt to reflect the structure of the University – that may change and changing domain names to reflect such changes would be too difficult.
  10. Student organisations associated with the Student Guild wanting their own domain names should only be allocated names which are subsidiary to the Guild, viz names of the form “yyy.guild.uwa.edu.au”;  this will be administered by the Student Guild.
  11. Student organisations not associated with the Guild should be sponsored by the relevant Faculty, whose approval must be obtained for the name and for the hosting arrangements.
  12. Occasionally, domain names other than of the form “xxx.uwa.edu.au” may be registered within the UWA IP address space.  Any organisation wishing to do so must obtain the prior approval of ITS, by lodging a written application stating the reasons.  ITS will use its discretion in approving or disallowing this.  Any dispute with its ruling may be taken up as provided for below.
  13. Likewise, any organisation wishing to register domain names of the form “xxx.uwa.edu.au” with an IP address not administered by UWA must obtain the prior approval of ITS.
  14. Where it is desired to register a domain name for a server not under the control of the applicant, the prior approval of the owner of that server must be obtained.
  15. Domain names will normally be allocated on a first-come first-served basis, within the constraints of 5 and 6 above.
  16. Domain name components must be longer than one character, start with a letter, and be composed entirely of letters, digits, and hyphens, with the last character not being a hyphen.  For uniqueness tests, upper and lower case characters are considered to be the same;  organisations may choose the representation they most prefer of a registered name, but with no guarantee that the DNS will always return the name in that form (replies usually come with the case that was given in the query).
  17. Normally, no more than two domain names (of the form xxx.uwa.edu.au) will be permitted for any organisation – one being the “standard” or “long form” domain name, and the second being a suitable abbreviated domain name (aliased to the first) which will be allowed in cases where the long form is cumbersome.  Temporary allocation of multiple domains may be allowed to provide a transition period when a name has to be changed for some reason, though name changes should be avoided wherever possible (the duration of this overlap will be determined by discussion between the organisation and ITS).
  18. Temporary domain names may be allocated to provide for conferences, open days or other significant University activities.  These must be renewed (if desired) annually.
  19. Domain names of some form other than xxx.uwa.edu.au (eg in the .com domain) may be used in special cases but only when aliased to a UWA domain name, and provided prior ITS approval has been obtained (and ITS requested to set up the mapping).
  20. Websites which are fully outside the UWA IP address space (eg hosted by an external ISP) must not have domain names of the form xxx.uwa.edu.au (this is in any case not feasible).
  21. Websites which are hosted externally may only contain official UWA content in the following two cases:
    a. if the site is owned by an organisation in which UWA has a direct interest (eg Cooperative Research Centres);  if the organisation or entity is legally a unit of this University, then it is subject to all relevant UWA policies and controls (including domain naming and ownership, Website requirements, etc).
    b. if the site is replicating content found on an official UWA Website;  this may occur only with the permission of the relevant UWA content custodian.
  22. In the case of a dispute (eg two organisations applying for the same domain name), and which cannot readily be resolved by the ITS officials administering this system, the disputants must endeavour to resolve the dispute themselves;  if they wish they can refer the matter to the Information Services Committee’s Technical Advisory Group;  a dispute over a decision by ITS may also be referred to the TAG;  an appeal may be made to the Information Services Committee, whose decision will be final.
  23. No offensive name (or one which could be expected to give offence) will be allowed.  Names should not undermine the reputation of the University.  Administrators of sub-domains are similarly expected to ensure such names are avoided.
  24. Unused, or apparently unused, domain names may be resumed by ITS, possibly for reallocation to another organisation.  ITS will make its best endeavours to locate the organisation responsible for such lapsed names, before withdrawal or reallocation.
  25. Applications for domain names must be submitted to ITS on the appropriate form (see http://webpolicy.uwa.edu.au/domain-name-form), must be authorised by the relevant Head of the organisation, and must nominate to ITS a technical contact person.
  26. Organisations wishing to run their own name servers (so as to allocate domain names within their organisation’s name space) must be registered with ITS and must allow the central DNS to act as a “secondary” server.  They must nominate to ITS and keep current the name of a responsible technical person.
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