Sub-zone requests and registrations

Dotted Hostnames

  • The use of dots in the host-name portion of an FQDN is not permitted. Using a dot in the host-name effectively fakes the zone, which can cause record duplication and other issues. (RFC 921)

DNS Sub-zone Guideline

  • Definition:  sub-zone and sub-domain can both refer to a container of records.  For this document we will refer to them as sub-zones.

    This guideline pertains to the creation of sub-zones of uwaterloo.ca in DNS.

  • IST is responsible for the creation/delegation of all records in Campus DNS
  • The second level zone uwaterloo.ca is managed by IST
    • Sub-zones for individual applications is not permitted
    • Multi-use/multi-purpose/common sub-zones is permitted
    • Exception: Campus-wide initiatives, such as email, where RFC compliance requires it
  • Each of the following groups can request one (1) sub-zone of uwaterloo.ca: (https://uwaterloo.ca/faculties-academics)
    • A faculty
    • An official school 
    • An affiliated and federated institution of the University of Waterloo
    • Research centers and institutes
    • Research groups, as defined by the Senate Graduate & Research Council
    • Student Societies, as listed at: https://wusa.ca/about/student-bodies/student-societies/ 
    • Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association
  • The requested sub-zone is called a 3rd level zone. eg: .uwaterloo.ca
  • 3rd level Zone names must be reasonable in nature
  • All units can request multiple sub-zones within their assigned 3rd level zone (eg. ..uwaterloo.ca)
  • Records associated with globally routable IP addresses will be contained in the "External" DNS view
  • Records associated with locally scoped IP addresses will be contained in the "Internal" DNS view in a fourth-level zone (eg. ..uwaterloo.ca)
  • Sub-zones in the "Internal" DNS view must be unique from those in the "External" DNS view
  • Creating CNAME records that cross between "External" and "Internal" DNS Views is prohibited

Additional Resources 

For additional information, please see: