Infrastructure

· 9 checks — DNS, redirects, IPv6, crawlability, URL variants, and domain intelligence rolled into one auditable list.

SCORE

GRADE

FIX

REVIEW

PASS

INFO

Probed from Amsterdam, Netherlands

301 Moved Permanently

Checks

4 PASS 3 REVIEW 2 FIX

URL Variants

Action

www/non-www, trailing slash, HTTP→HTTPS

FIX

www/non-www, trailing slash, HTTP→HTTPS

Both www and non-www versions serve content

Got: Both variants return 200 Expected: One variant 301-redirects to the other

HTTP version does not redirect to HTTPS

Got: HTTP 301 Expected: 301 redirect to HTTPS

www / non-www

200https://www.ucl.ac.uk/

200https://ucl.ac.uk/

Inconsistent — duplicate content risk

HTTP → HTTPS

301http://ucl.ac.uk/ → http://www.ucl.ac.uk/

HTTP version does not redirect to HTTPS

CDN & Delivery

Action

No CDN detected

FIX

No CDN detected

A CDN can significantly improve load times for users around the world by caching content at edge nodes closer to them.

No CDN detected

Consider using a CDN to improve global delivery speed and reduce origin load.

IPv6 Readiness

Action

No IPv6 support

REVIEW

No IPv6 support

No IPv6 (AAAA) records found

IPv6 support is increasingly important for global accessibility. About 40% of internet users have IPv6 connectivity.

No IPv6 Support

About 40% of internet users have IPv6. Consider adding AAAA records.

IPv6 support is increasingly important for global accessibility. About 40% of internet users have IPv6 connectivity.

Why this matters

No AAAA records — same impact as 'no IPv6 (AAAA) records'; IPv6-preferring clients pay extra latency falling back to IPv4.

Source: Google IPv6 stats

Crawlability

robots.txt present, sitemap with 0 URLs

REVIEW

robots.txt present, sitemap with 0 URLs

robots.txt is present

Got: 10240 bytes

sitemap.xml is present

sitemap.xml contains invalid XML

Search engines may not be able to parse the sitemap. Fix XML validation errors.

sitemap.xml is empty — no URLs found

An empty sitemap provides no value. Add <url> entries for your pages.

robots.txt references sitemap

Search engines may not be able to parse the sitemap. Fix XML validation errors.

Why this matters

An unparseable sitemap is silently ignored by Google — the URLs it advertises are never queued for crawl.

Learn more ▾

Google's sitemap parser is strict about XML validity. A single unescaped `&` or unclosed tag invalidates the whole file. Run your sitemap through a validator (Search Console's Sitemaps report flags it) and fix the offending entry. Most generators escape correctly; mistakes usually come from manually-written entries.

Source: sitemaps.org / Google Search Central

An empty sitemap provides no value. Add <url> entries for your pages.

Why this matters

An empty sitemap signals 'no content to index' to Google — actively harmful versus having no sitemap at all.

Learn more ▾

Google compares URLs in the sitemap against URLs it has crawled. An empty sitemap on a site with thousands of pages signals abandonment. Either populate it correctly (most CMSes auto-generate) or delete the file and let Google crawl normally.

Source: Google Search Central / sitemaps.org

robots.txt 200 OK

Size 10240 B Sitemaps referenced 73 User-agents *, Funnelback, Twiceler, oBot Blocking No — crawling allowed

#
# robots.txt
#
# This file is to prevent the crawling and indexing of certain parts
# of your site by web crawlers and spiders run by sites like Yahoo!
# and Google. By telling these "robots" where not to go on your site,
# you save bandwidth and server resources.
#
# This file will be ignored unless it is at the root of your host:
# Used:    http://example.com/robots.txt
# Ignored: http://example.com/site/robots.txt
#
# For more information about the robots.txt standard, see:
# http://www.robotstxt.org/robotstxt.html
#

User-agent: Twiceler
Disallow: /

User-agent: oBot
Disallow: /

User-agent: *
Disallow: */edit
Disallow: /ogm
Disallow: /hr/senior_promotions/
Disallow: /UCL-Info
Disallow: /search-webglimps
Disallow: /Registry
Disallow: /ceacb
Disallow: /drupal/
Disallow: /dpl/
Disallow: /tobedeleted-sites/
Disallow: /silva/
Disallow: /www-mail/
Disallow: /digital-presence-services/chat/
Disallow: /digital-presence-services/uptimerobot-status-page-widget/

#Drupal default
# CSS, JS, Images
Allow: /misc/*.css$
Allow: /misc/*.css?
Allow: /misc/*.js$
Allow: /misc/*.js?
Allow: /misc/*.gif
Allow: /misc/*.jpg
Allow: /misc/*.jpeg
Allow: /misc/*.png
Allow: /modules/*.css$
Allow: /modules/*.css?
Allow: /modules/*.js$
Allow: /modules/*.js?
Allow: /modules/*.gif
Allow: /modules/*.jpg
Allow: /modules/*.jpeg
Allow: /modules/*.png
Allow: /profiles/*.css$
Allow: /profiles/*.css?
Allow: /profiles/*.js$
Allow: /profiles/*.js?
Allow: /profiles/*.gif
Allow: /profiles/*.jpg
Allow: /profiles/*.jpeg
Allow: /profiles/*.png
Allow: /themes/*.css$
Allow: /themes/*.css?
Allow: /themes/*.js$
Allow: /themes/*.js?
Allow: /themes/*.gif
Allow: /themes/*.jpg
Allow: /themes/*.jpeg
Allow: /themes/*.png

Allow: */misc/*.css$
Allow: */misc/*.css?
Allow: */misc/*.js$
Allow: */misc/*.js?
Allow: */misc/*.gif
Allow: */misc/*.jpg
Allow: */misc/*.jpeg
Allow: */misc/*.png
Allow: */modules/*.css$
Allow: */modules/*.css?
Allow: */modules/*.js$
Allow: */modules/*.js?
Allow: */modules/*.gif
Allow: */modules/*.jpg
Allow: */modules/*.jpeg
Allow: */modules/*.png
Allow: */profiles/*.css$
Allow: */profiles/*.css?
Allow: */profiles/*.js$
Allow: */profiles/*.js?
Allow: */profiles/*.gif
Allow: */profiles/*.jpg
Allow: */profiles/*.jpeg
Allow: */profiles/*.png
Allow: */themes/*.css$
Allow: */themes/*.css?
Allow: */themes/*.js$
Allow: */themes/*.js?
Allow: */themes/*.gif
Allow: */themes/*.jpg
Allow: */themes/*.jpeg
Allow: */themes/*.png

# Directories
Disallow: /includes/
Disallow: /misc/
Disallow: /modules/
Disallow: /profiles/
Disallow: /scripts/
Disallow: /themes/
Disallow: /node/
Disallow: */includes/
Disallow: */misc/
Disallow: */modules/
Disallow: */profiles/
Disallow: */scripts/
Disallow: */themes/
Disallow: */node/

# Files
Disallow: /CHANGELOG.txt
Disallow: /cron.php
Disallow: /INSTALL.mysql.txt
Disallow: /INSTALL.pgsql.txt
Disallow: /INSTALL.sqlite.txt
Disallow: /install.php
Disallow: /INSTALL.txt
Disallow: /LICENSE.txt
Disallow: /MAINTAINERS.txt
Disallow: /update.php
Disallow: /UPGRADE.txt
Disallow: /xmlrpc.php
Disallow: */CHANGELOG.txt
Disallow: */cron.php
Disallow: */INSTALL.mysql.txt
Disallow: */INSTALL.pgsql.txt
Disallow: */INSTALL.sqlite.txt
Disallow: */install.php
Disallow: */INSTALL.txt
Disallow: */LICENSE.txt
Disallow: */MAINTAINERS.txt
Disallow: */update.php
Disallow: */UPGRADE.txt
Disallow: */xmlrpc.php

# Paths (clean URLs)
Disallow: /admin/
Disallow: /comment/reply/
Disallow: /filter/tips/
Disallow: /node/add/
Disallow: /search/
Disallow: /user/register/
Disallow: /user/password/
Disallow: /user/login/
Disallow: /user/logout/
Disallow: */admin/
Disallow: */comment/reply/
Disallow: */filter/tips/
Disallow: */node/add/
Disallow: */search/
Disallow: */user/register/
Disallow: */user/password/
Disallow: */user/login/
Disallow: */user/logout/

# Paths (no clean URLs)
Disallow: /?q=admin/
Disallow: /?q=comment/reply/
Disallow: /?q=filter/tips/
Disallow: /?q=node/add/
Disallow: /?q=search/
Disallow: /?q=user/password/
Disallow: /?q=user/register/
Disallow: /?q=user/login/
Disallow: /?q=user/logout/
Disallow: */?q=admin/
Disallow: */?q=comment/reply/
Disallow: */?q=filter/tips/
Disallow: */?q=node/add/
Disallow: */?q=search/
Disallow: */?q=user/password/
Disallow: */?q=user/register/
Disallow: */?q=user/login/
Disallow: */?q=user/logout/

# Paths (clean URLs) - fixed
Disallow: /admin
Disallow: /comment/reply
Disallow: /filter/tips
Disallow: /node/add
Disallow: /search
Disallow: /user/register
Disallow: /user/password
Disallow: /user/login
Disallow: /user/logout
Disallow: */admin
Disallow: */comment/reply
Disallow: */filter/tips
Disallow: */node/add
Disallow: */user/register
Disallow: */user/password
Disallow: */user/login
Disallow: */user/logout

# Paths (no clean URLs) - fixed
Disallow: /?q=admin
Disallow: /?q=comment/reply
Disallow: /?q=filter/tips
Disallow: /?q=node/add
Disallow: /?q=search
Disallow: /?q=user/password
Disallow: /?q=user/register
Disallow: /?q=user/login
Disallow: /?q=user/logout
Disallow: */?q=admin
Disallow: */?q=comment/reply
Disallow: */?q=filter/tips
Disallow: */?q=node/add
Disallow: */?q=search
Disallow: */?q=user/password
Disallow: */?q=user/register
Disallow: */?q=user/login
Disallow: */?q=user/logout

# Sites
Disallow: /tobedeleted-sites
Disallow: /cms-training
Disallow: /culture/staff/staff
Disallow: /culture/projects/projects
Disallow: /drupal-training
Disallow: /prospective-students/undergraduate-redesign
Disallow: /work-at-ucl/redeployment

# Sites - fixed
Disallow: /cms-training/
Disallow: /culture/staff/staff/
Disallow: /culture/projects/projects/
Disallow: /drupal-training/
Disallow: /prospective-students/undergraduate-redesign/
Disallow: /work-at-ucl/redeployment/

User-Agent: Funnelback
Allow: /drupal/
Allow: /module-catalogue/
Allow: /prospective-students/undergraduate-redesign/

# Drupal sites sitemap list
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/2034/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/3dgeoinfo/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/about/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/academic-manual/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/academic-staff-common-room/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/access-to-justice/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/accessibility/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/accommodation/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/advanced-propulsion-lab/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/advanced-research-computing/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ai-centre/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/aihealth-cdt/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/alan-turing-institute/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/alumni/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/americas/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/amopp/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/amyloidosis/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/anaesthesia/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/animal-research/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/annual-review/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/anthropocene/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/anthropology/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/antimicrobial-resistance/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/antiresdev/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeo-metallurgical-studies/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology-south-east/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/art-futures/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/art-history/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/artificial-intelligence/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/arts-humanities/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/arts-sciences/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/association-university-administrators/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astrea/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/astrophysics/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/architecture/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/casa/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/construction/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/development/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/energy/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/environment-energy-resources/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/environmental-design/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/heritage/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/igp/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/planning/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/public-purpose/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/real-estate/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/sustainable/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/behaviour-change/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bentham-project/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bi-multilingualism/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/biochemical-engineering/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/biological-services/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/biophysics/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/biosafety-design-initiative/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/biosciences/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/black-legend/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bloomsbury-consortium-light-electron-microscopy/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bloomsbury-environmental-isotope-facility/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-sciences/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/brand/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/brexit/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/british-sign-language-history/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/british-womens-heart-health-study/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/building-envelope-research/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/cam/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/campaign/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/cancer/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/cardiometabolic-vascular-science/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/cardiovascular/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/career-frameworks/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/careers/rec

sitemap.xml 200 OK

Type URL Set URLs 0 entries Valid XML No

TLS Certificate Expiry & Recommendations

207 days until leaf cert expires — 4 issues to address

REVIEW

Certificate validity

207

days left

0d 30d 60d 90d+

Recommended actions

Prefer TLS 1.3 — TLS 1.2 is acceptable but TLS 1.3 removes RSA key exchange and improves latency
Enable HSTS: Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains
Enable DNSSEC on your domain for DNS spoofing protection
Enable OCSP stapling on your TLS server to remove a CA roundtrip and protect user privacy

A+

DNS Records

1 A records, 58 ms lookup

PASS

1 A records, 58 ms lookup

Resolves to 1 IPv4 address(es)

Got: 144.82.250.24

Single A record — no DNS redundancy

Multiple A records provide failover if one server goes down.

No IPv6 (AAAA) records

3 nameserver(s) configured

Got: dns-ns0.ucl.ac.uk, ns1.cs.ucl.ac.uk, dns-ns1.ucl.ac.uk

1 mail exchanger(s) configured

CAA records not checked

CAA record lookup requires a specialized DNS resolver. This check will be available in a future update.

SPF record present in TXT

DNS resolution time: 58 ms

Got: 58 ms

A	144.82.250.24
AAAA	—
CNAME	—
NS	dns-ns0.ucl.ac.uk, ns1.cs.ucl.ac.uk, dns-ns1.ucl.ac.uk
MX	0 ucl-ac-uk.mail.protection.outlook.com
TXT	docusign=40a63b44-e7df-45bc-9c65-21b38fa33f26 brevo-code:058830f1aee8ad1e3f2ecaca5cb5c846 mEk-0mKQOPiga_se0TfO docusign=fbe753b6-c1c4-44e9-b9f7-820dbcfe7290 google-site-verification=HYq_FNvSnPEYJHDRM31UT7jfV2ry_xukRUor93cYLRk apple-domain-verification=C9Qj4mYeA59hnDfz msfpkey=78u930ug1kwz0eoxo1cg92wxf autodesk-domain-verification=MT_jq-adQj1qOV6Ep4ce _47rkp5hg8g3y0jkkmp82pq9hjb6w4bf atlassian-domain-verification=g-InG/mbc6+5Anw47Pk/jq22zDbpsK2iFnuAs5Vv5vivQWUd28... _mov300ry8np4mpicwdajkqzthf9aq13 QuoVadis=bf045d68-9d0c-419b-9097-94023f968afd SPF v=spf1 include:_u.ucl.ac.uk._spf.dmarclyeu.com ?all miro-verification=6d10fbfcfd7b72d871b65517bcf29a957538dfe9 d365mktkey=RLvk4VoyhhofrgfXZDiISnuW0lBkgq1oqi24D0nS5zgx A2EC2D3-DE3A-4D43-A7BD-532895B87206 linkedin-site-verification=614c6ad9-9c1d-43a4-bb08-53b5119ecf3a amazonses:EznRySYtm+gV+3JhMOjoaI0SxZjmvbIM0XactWVl/VI= jamf-site-verification=BGuHhNBcLAGxu-yx5AmpEQ adobe-idp-site-verification=9a3d608e-6cfe-427b-9293-29a367710d04 infoblox-domain-mastery=4fdb521e5350b68adfcbbcc3f658d4aaf0c88bc5fd1472b7e9649ae3... hpe-greenlake-domain-verification=693836755579326c597839506e7965336a766e6f506576... UxpHCrLgfG7EXXoLsSR8
CAA	Lookup not available with standard resolver

Resolved in 58 ms

Multiple A records provide failover if one server goes down.

Why this matters

Single A record means a single point of failure — if that IP goes down, your site is unreachable until DNS TTL expires.

Learn more ▾

Add multiple A records for round-robin failover, or use a managed DNS provider with health-checked failover (Route 53, Cloudflare, NS1). Short TTL (60-300s) lets clients recover faster on outages.

Source: SRE practice / DNS architecture

CAA record lookup requires a specialized DNS resolver. This check will be available in a future update.

Why this matters

Informational: CAA (Certification Authority Authorization) records weren't checked in this scan.

Redirect Chain

1 redirect(s), 258 ms total

PASS

1 redirect(s), 258 ms total

Single redirect

Got: https://ucl.ac.uk → https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ (301)

WWW normalization redirect

https://ucl.ac.uk

125 ms · HTTP/1.1

301

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/

133 ms · HTTP/1.1 FINAL

#	URL	Status	Time	Protocol	Server
1	https://ucl.ac.uk	301	125 ms	HTTP/1.1	Apache/2.4.37 (Red Hat Enterprise Linux)
2	https://www.ucl.ac.uk/	200	133 ms	HTTP/1.1	cloudflare

See the visual redirect chain in the HTTP Probe tab →

A+

Domain Intelligence

ucl.ac.uk — via No registrar listed. This domain is directly registered with Nominet., hosted on JANET Jisc Services Limited, GB

PASS

ucl.ac.uk — via No registrar listed. This domain is directly registered with Nominet., hosted on JANET Jisc Services Limited, GB

Registrar: No registrar listed. This domain is directly registered with Nominet.

Registrar lock is NOT enabled

The domain can be transferred without an unlock step. Enable registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited) in your registrar's control panel to protect against unauthorized or accidental transfers.

Hosting: JANET Jisc Services Limited, GB

Got: AS786

Domain expiry

Unknown

SSL certificate

207 days

Issued by Sectigo Limited

Domain age

Unknown

DNSSEC

Status unknown

Protects against DNS spoofing

Hosting

JANET Jisc Services Limited, GB

ASN AS786

144.82.250.24

Registrar

No registrar listed. This domain is directly registered with Nominet.

Unlocked 7 NS records

Expiry timeline

Today

+1 year

SSL expiry Danger zone (≤30 days)

Recommended actions

Enable registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited) to block unauthorized domain transfers

Registrar No registrar listed. This domain is directly registered with Nominet.

Name Servers ns0.ja.net, ns2.ja.net, ns3.ja.net, ns4.ja.net, auth03.ns.uu.net, ns1.surfnet.nl, dns-3.dfn.de

Registrant The JNT Association

Hosting

IP Address 144.82.250.24

ASN AS786 (JANET Jisc Services Limited, GB)

Provider JANET Jisc Services Limited, GB

Data source: whois (0.7s)

The domain can be transferred without an unlock step. Enable registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited) in your registrar's control panel to protect against unauthorized or accidental transfers.

Why this matters

Without registrar lock, an attacker who phishes your registrar credentials can transfer the domain in minutes — total brand hijack.

Learn more ▾

Registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited, clientUpdateProhibited, clientDeleteProhibited) requires extra verification before any transfer/update/delete. Every major registrar offers it free. Combined with 2FA on your registrar account, it's the strongest defense against domain hijacking.

Source: ICANN / domain-security best practice

A+

HTTP Probe Timing

Total 127 ms — DNS, TCP, TLS, TTFB, content transfer breakdown

PASS

DNS Lookup

15 ms

TCP Connect

20 ms

TLS Handshake

67 ms

Time to First Byte

127 ms

Total Time

127 ms

Connection waterfall

DNS Lookup 15 ms TCP Connect 20 ms TLS Handshake 67 ms Server Processing 24 ms Content Transfer 0 ms

All checks on this page are automated. Results are estimates - run targeted manual reviews when the score affects a release decision.