Changes to Penn's DNS service - July 2006

Internet Service Providers (ISPs), including Penn and commercial ISPs such as Verizon, use the Domain Name System (DNS) to translate alphabetic computer names into their corresponding numerical addresses, eg. www.google.com into 64.233.161.104 , etc. Without DNS services, users would have to remember and use these numerical sequences.

For security reasons, Penn needs to restrict access to its own DNS servers to on-campus users only. Beginning July 11th, Penn’s DNS service will therefore stop accepting name translation requests from off-campus computers.

On-campus Internet users will not be affected by this change. Nor will most off-campus users be affected; they are likely using their ISP’s DNS service already. However, any off-campus users who have manually configured their computer with Penn’s DNS servers will need to alter their configuration.

Useful links:

General info

• Who is likely to be affected by the change?
• What's the impact on remote University offices?
• Check or change your DNS settings
• What are Penn's DNS Servers?
• DNS information for common ISPs

Help and Support

• Help for Laptop users
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
• Find your LSP

Documentation for LSPs

• Helpful documentation for LSPs