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https://bham.ac.uk

Infrastructure

· 9 checks — DNS, redirects, IPv6, crawlability, URL variants, and domain intelligence rolled into one auditable list.
SCORE
87
GRADE
B
FIX
1
REVIEW
3
PASS
5
INFO
0
Probed from Madrid, Spain
301 Moved Permanently
Checks
9
5 PASS 3 REVIEW 1 FIX
D
CDN & Delivery
Action
No CDN detected
FIX
No CDN detected
Warning::
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.

B
DNS Records
1 A records, 44 ms lookup
REVIEW
1 A records, 44 ms lookup
Info::
Resolves to 1 IPv4 address(es)
Got: 147.188.217.187
Info::
Single A record — no DNS redundancy
Multiple A records provide failover if one server goes down.
Info::
No IPv6 (AAAA) records
Warning::
CNAME record at zone apex
A CNAME at the zone apex can break MX and NS records. Use ALIAS/ANAME or A records instead.
Got: redirvip.bham.ac.uk
Info::
No NS records found
Info::
No MX records — email not configured via DNS
Info::
CAA records not checked
CAA record lookup requires a specialized DNS resolver. This check will be available in a future update.
Info::
No SPF record found in TXT records
SPF helps prevent email spoofing. Add a TXT record starting with 'v=spf1'.
Info::
DNS resolution time: 44 ms
Got: 44 ms
A147.188.217.187
AAAA—
CNAMEredirvip.bham.ac.uk
NS—
MX—
TXT—
CAALookup not available with standard resolver
Resolved in 44 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

A CNAME at the zone apex can break MX and NS records. Use ALIAS/ANAME or A records instead.

Why this matters

CNAME at the apex (example.com) breaks every other apex record (MX, TXT, NS) — DNS-protocol violation per RFC 1034.

Learn more ▾

RFC 1034 forbids CNAME alongside other records at the same name. Some DNS providers offer ALIAS / ANAME / flattened-CNAME records that work around this — use those instead. Otherwise apex-level CNAME breaks email (no MX), domain ownership verification (no TXT), and more.

Source: RFC 1034

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.

SPF helps prevent email spoofing. Add a TXT record starting with 'v=spf1'.

Why this matters

Without SPF, receiving servers can't validate sending IPs — your domain is easier to spoof in phishing.

Learn more ▾

SPF complements DMARC. Both should be published. SPF records list authorized sending IPs (e.g., `v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all` for Google Workspace). After publishing, verify in Google Postmaster Tools or mxtoolbox.

Source: RFC 7208 (SPF)

C
IPv6 Readiness
Action
No IPv6 support
REVIEW
No IPv6 support
Info::
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

B
TLS Certificate Expiry & Recommendations
237 days until leaf cert expires — 3 issues to address
REVIEW

Certificate validity

237
days left
0d 30d 60d 90d+

Recommended actions

  • 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
Redirect Chain
1 redirect(s), 293 ms total
PASS
1 redirect(s), 293 ms total
Info::
Single redirect
Got: https://www.bham.ac.uk → https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/ (301)
Info::
Cross-domain redirect detected

https://www.bham.ac.uk

98 ms · HTTP/1.0

301

https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/

195 ms · HTTP/1.1 FINAL

#URLStatusTimeProtocolServer
1https://www.bham.ac.uk30198 msHTTP/1.0BigIP
2https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/200195 msHTTP/1.1

See the visual redirect chain in the HTTP Probe tab →

A+
Crawlability
robots.txt present, sitemap with 31 URLs
PASS
robots.txt present, sitemap with 31 URLs
Info::
robots.txt is present
Got: 1423 bytes
Info::
sitemap.xml is present
Info::
sitemap.xml is valid XML
Info::
sitemap.xml contains 31 entries
Info::
Sitemap index with 31 child sitemaps
Info::
robots.txt references sitemap
robots.txt 200 OK
Size 1423 B Sitemaps referenced 1 User-agents *, AhrefsBot Blocking No — crawling allowed
User-agent: *
Disallow: /campaigns/
Disallow: /live-test/
Disallow: /contact/feedback/
Disallow: /Documents/students/undergraduate-prospectus.pdf
Disallow: /Documents/students/undergraduate/undergraduate-prospectus-2024-low-res.pdf
Disallow: /Documents/postgraduate-prospectus.pdf
Disallow: /dubai/campaigns/
Disallow: /emergency/
Disallow: /personal-page/content/
Disallow: /research/heroes/landing/
Disallow: /schools/eps/non-searchable/
Disallow: /SiteElements/
Disallow: /training/
Disallow: /university/colleges/artslaw/campaigns/
Disallow: /webteam/
Disallow: /study/undergraduate/apply/offer-holder-visit
Disallow: /study/campaigns/international/international-guide-success
Disallow: /study/undergraduate/apply/offer-holder-hub
Disallow: /study/international/fees/international-deposits/international-deadline-extension
Disallow: /study/undergraduate/apply/notify-us-of-your-eligibility-for-a-grade-reduction
Disallow: /websupport/
Disallow: /*?*download=
Disallow: /*?*search_keywords=
Disallow: /*?*q=
Disallow: /*?*GoToPage=
Disallow: /*?*CurrentTab= 
Disallow: /*?*AtoZLetter=
Disallow: /*?*_goto=
Disallow: /*?ContensisTextOnly=true*
Disallow: /virtual-tour/*?*
Disallow: /study/postgraduate/open-events/online-events/pg-offerholder-week
Disallow: /study/campaigns/international/pg/can-we-match-your-offer
Allow: /

User-Agent: AhrefsBot 
Crawl-Delay: 10

Sitemap: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/sitemap-index.xml
sitemap.xml 200 OK
Type Sitemap Index URLs 31 entries Valid XML Yes
Child Sitemaps:
A+
URL Variants
www/non-www, trailing slash, HTTP→HTTPS
PASS
www/non-www, trailing slash, HTTP→HTTPS
Info::
HTTP correctly 301-redirects to HTTPS

www / non-www

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

HTTP → HTTPS

301http://www.bham.ac.uk/ → https://www.bham.ac.uk/

Consistent

A+
Domain Intelligence
bham.ac.uk — via No registrar listed. This domain is directly registered with Nominet., hosted on JANET Jisc Services Limited, GB
PASS
bham.ac.uk — via No registrar listed. This domain is directly registered with Nominet., hosted on JANET Jisc Services Limited, GB
Info::
Registrar: No registrar listed. This domain is directly registered with Nominet.
Warning::
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.
Info::
Hosting: JANET Jisc Services Limited, GB
Got: AS786
Domain expiry

Unknown

SSL certificate

237 days

Issued by Sectigo Limited

Domain age

Unknown

DNSSEC

Status unknown

Protects against DNS spoofing

Hosting

JANET Jisc Services Limited, GB

ASN AS786

147.188.128.127

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 147.188.128.127
ASN AS786 (JANET Jisc Services Limited, GB)
Provider JANET Jisc Services Limited, GB
Data source: whois (0.9s)

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 195 ms — DNS, TCP, TLS, TTFB, content transfer breakdown
PASS
DNS Lookup DNS Lookup — time to resolve the domain name to an IP address.
97 ms
TCP Connect TCP Connect — time to establish a TCP connection to the server.
31 ms
TLS Handshake TLS Handshake — time to complete the HTTPS encryption handshake.
35 ms
Time to First Byte Time to First Byte — how long the server takes to respond with the first byte of data.
195 ms
Total Time Total request time from DNS lookup through full response.
195 ms

Connection waterfall

DNS Lookup 97 ms TCP Connect 31 ms TLS Handshake 35 ms Server Processing 32 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.

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