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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
200 OK
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, 106 ms lookup
REVIEW
1 A records, 106 ms lookup
Info::
Resolves to 1 IPv4 address(es)
Got: 132.216.98.100
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: webcache.it.mcgill.ca
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: 106 ms
Got: 106 ms
A132.216.98.100
AAAA
CNAMEwebcache.it.mcgill.ca
NS
MX
TXT
CAALookup not available with standard resolver
Resolved in 106 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
184 days until leaf cert expires — 3 issues to address
REVIEW

Certificate validity

184
days left
0d 30d 60d 90d+

Recommended actions

  • Submit your domain to hstspreload.org to be added to the Chrome preload list
  • 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
No redirects — direct access
PASS
No redirects — direct access
Info::
No redirects — direct access
Got: https://www.mcgill.ca

https://www.mcgill.ca

328 ms · HTTP/1.1 FINAL

#URLStatusTimeProtocolServer
1https://www.mcgill.ca200328 msHTTP/1.1
A+
Crawlability
robots.txt present, sitemap with 777 URLs
PASS
robots.txt present, sitemap with 777 URLs
Info::
robots.txt is present
Got: 3386 bytes
Info::
sitemap.xml is present
Info::
sitemap.xml is valid XML
Info::
sitemap.xml contains 777 entries
Info::
Sitemap index with 777 child sitemaps
Info::
robots.txt references sitemap
robots.txt 200 OK
Size 3386 B Sitemaps referenced 2 User-agents Lucidworks-Anda/2.0, Elastic-Crawler, *, archive.org_bot 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

Sitemap: https://www.mcgill.ca/root/sitemap-index.xml
Sitemap: https://www.mcgill.ca/sitemap.xml

User-agent: Lucidworks-Anda/2.0
Crawl-delay: 0

User-agent: Elastic-Crawler
Crawl-delay: 0

User-agent: *
Crawl-delay: 5

User-agent: archive.org_bot
Allow: /study/*

# 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
# Directories
Disallow: */includes/
Disallow: */modules/
Disallow: */profiles/
Disallow: */scripts/
Disallow: */themes/
# eCals
Disallow: /study/*
# 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: */misc/favicon.ico
# Paths (clean URLs)
Disallow: */admin/
Disallow: */comment/reply/
Disallow: */filter/tips/
Disallow: */node/add/
Disallow: */search/
Disallow: /*/people/*
Disallow: /*/events/*
Disallow: /undergraduate-admissions/programs?*
Disallow: /gradapplicants/programs?*
Disallow: */user/register/
Disallow: */user/password/
Disallow: */user/login/
Disallow: */user/logout/
Disallow: */user
# Paths (no clean URLs)
Disallow: */?q=admin/
Disallow: */?q=comment/reply/
Disallow: */?q=filter/tips/
Disallow: */?q=node/add/
Disallow: */?q=search/
Disallow: /?q=study/*/courses/search
Disallow: /?q=study/*/programs/search
Disallow: /?q=study/*/search/all
Disallow: */?q=user/password/
Disallow: */?q=user/register/
Disallow: */?q=user/login/
Disallow: */?q=user/logout/
Disallow: /*.zip$
Disallow: /*.gif$
Disallow: /*.jpg$
Disallow: /*.jpeg$
Disallow: /*.png$
Disallow: /*.tif$
Disallow: /*.tiff$
Disallow: /*.dll$
Disallow: /*.exe$
Disallow: /*.class$
Disallow: /*.wmv$
Disallow: /*.m4v$
Disallow: /*.jar$
Disallow: /*.gz$
Disallow: /*.tar$
Disallow: /*.css$
Disallow: /*.inc$
Disallow: /*.js$
Disallow: /*.js.php$
Disallow: /*.swf$
Disallow: /*.fla$
Disallow: /*.psd$
Disallow: /*.m4a$
Disallow: /*.m4p$
Disallow: /*.aac$
Disallow: /*.m2a$
Disallow: /*.m2v$
Disallow: /*.sit$
Disallow: /*.dmg$
Disallow: /*.wma$
Disallow: /*.mdb$
Disallow: /*.tar.gz2$
Disallow: /*.rar$

sitemap.xml 200 OK
Type Sitemap Index URLs 777 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::
www/non-www redirect configured correctly (preferred: www)
Warning::
HTTP→HTTPS redirect uses 302 instead of 301
Got: 302 temporary redirect Expected: 301 permanent redirect

www / non-www

200https://www.mcgill.ca/
301https://mcgill.ca/

Preferred variant: www

HTTP → HTTPS

302http://www.mcgill.ca/ https://www.mcgill.ca/

Use 301 (permanent) instead of 302 (temporary)

A+
Domain Intelligence
mcgill.ca — via A.R.C. Informatique Inc., 25 years, 10 months old, hosted on RISQ-AS - Reseau dInformations Scientifiques du Quebec RISQ Inc., CA
PASS
mcgill.ca — via A.R.C. Informatique Inc., 25 years, 10 months old, hosted on RISQ-AS - Reseau dInformations Scientifiques du Quebec RISQ Inc., CA
Info::
Domain registered until Jan 12, 2027 (9 months remaining)
Info::
DNSSEC is not enabled
DNSSEC protects against DNS spoofing attacks. While not required, enabling DNSSEC adds an additional layer of security. Contact your DNS provider to enable it.
Info::
Registrar: A.R.C. Informatique Inc.
Info::
Hosting: RISQ-AS - Reseau dInformations Scientifiques du Quebec RISQ Inc., CA
Got: AS376
Domain expiry

210 days

January 12, 2027

SSL certificate

184 days

Issued by DigiCert Inc

Domain age

25 years, 10 months

Registered October 11, 2000

DNSSEC

Not enabled

Protects against DNS spoofing

Hosting

RISQ-AS - Reseau dInformations Scientifiques du Quebec RISQ Inc., CA

ASN AS376

132.216.98.121

Registrar

A.R.C. Informatique Inc.

Lock status unknown 2 NS records
Expiry timeline
Today
+1 year
Domain expiry SSL expiry Danger zone (≤30 days)
Recommended actions
  • Enable DNSSEC to protect visitors from DNS spoofing
Registrar A.R.C. Informatique Inc.
Created October 11, 2000 (25 years, 10 months ago)
Expires January 12, 2027 (9 months)
Last Updated July 26, 2022
Name Servers pens1.mcgill.ca, pens2.mcgill.ca
DNSSEC Not enabled
Registrant Spiro Mitsialis
Hosting
IP Address 132.216.98.121
ASN AS376 (RISQ-AS - Reseau dInformations Scientifiques du Quebec RISQ Inc., CA)
Provider RISQ-AS - Reseau dInformations Scientifiques du Quebec RISQ Inc., CA
Data source: rdap (2.0s)

DNSSEC protects against DNS spoofing attacks. While not required, enabling DNSSEC adds an additional layer of security. Contact your DNS provider to enable it.

Why this matters

Without DNSSEC, an attacker who can poison your DNS can hijack your domain — and SSL certs alone don't stop them.

Learn more

DNSSEC adds cryptographic signatures to DNS records, preventing forged responses from poisoning resolver caches. Without it, an attacker who controls the network path can redirect your domain to a malicious server before any HTTPS handshake happens. Most modern registrars (Cloudflare, Google Domains, Route 53) enable it with one toggle.

Source: ICANN / RFC 4033

A
HTTP Probe Timing
Total 549 ms — DNS, TCP, TLS, TTFB, content transfer breakdown
PASS
DNS Lookup DNS Lookup — time to resolve the domain name to an IP address.
208 ms
TCP Connect TCP Connect — time to establish a TCP connection to the server.
104 ms
TLS Handshake TLS Handshake — time to complete the HTTPS encryption handshake.
106 ms
Time to First Byte Time to First Byte — how long the server takes to respond with the first byte of data.
549 ms
Total Time Total request time from DNS lookup through full response.
550 ms

Connection waterfall

DNS Lookup 208 ms TCP Connect 104 ms TLS Handshake 106 ms Server Processing 130 ms Content Transfer 1 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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