Network Change: Affecting Some Off-campus Internet Users

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 it’s own DNS servers to on-campus users only. This means that off-campus users need to be configured to use DNS servers operated by their ISP.

Beginning July 11, Penn’s DNS service will 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.

To check or change DNS settings, see your Local Support Provider or www.upenn.edu/computing/isc/networking/dns/.

—Mike Palladino,
Associate Vice-President, ISC