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Infrastructure

· 9 checks — DNS, redirects, IPv6, crawlability, URL variants, and domain intelligence rolled into one auditable list.
SCORE
92
GRADE
A
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.

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
HTTP Probe Timing
Total 1095 ms — DNS, TCP, TLS, TTFB, content transfer breakdown
REVIEW
DNS Lookup DNS Lookup — time to resolve the domain name to an IP address.
32 ms
TCP Connect TCP Connect — time to establish a TCP connection to the server.
0 ms
TLS Handshake TLS Handshake — time to complete the HTTPS encryption handshake.
3 ms
Time to First Byte Time to First Byte — how long the server takes to respond with the first byte of data.
1.09 s
Total Time Total request time from DNS lookup through full response.
1.10 s

Connection waterfall

DNS Lookup 32 ms TCP Connect 0 ms TLS Handshake 3 ms Server Processing 1.06 s Content Transfer 1 ms
B
TLS Certificate Expiry & Recommendations
48 days until leaf cert expires — 3 issues to address
REVIEW

Certificate validity

48
days left
0d 30d 60d 90d+

Recommended actions

  • Add the preload directive and submit to hstspreload.org once max-age + includeSubDomains are in place
  • 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, 38 ms lookup
PASS
1 A records, 38 ms lookup
Info::
Resolves to 1 IPv4 address(es)
Got: 192.0.66.53
Info::
Single A record — no DNS redundancy
Multiple A records provide failover if one server goes down.
Info::
No IPv6 (AAAA) records
Info::
4 nameserver(s) configured
Got: ns-cloud-c1.googledomains.com, ns-cloud-c2.googledomains.com, ns-cloud-c3.googledomains.com, ns-cloud-c4.googledomains.com
Info::
2 mail exchanger(s) configured
Info::
CAA records not checked
CAA record lookup requires a specialized DNS resolver. This check will be available in a future update.
Info::
SPF record present in TXT
Info::
DNS resolution time: 38 ms
Got: 38 ms
A192.0.66.53
AAAA—
CNAME—
NSns-cloud-c1.googledomains.com, ns-cloud-c2.googledomains.com, ns-cloud-c3.googledomains.com, ns-cloud-c4.googledomains.com
MX
10 mxa-00385001.gslb.pphosted.com
10 mxb-00385001.gslb.pphosted.com
TXT
tollbit-domain-verification=9deea51fb4ad63c3f29516fe9d4c424ada0f5598026af135df1c...
google-site-verification=ezVC8Mp7izU_k61cmNf0h9653lvfWlALAtQ976vfFkU
globalsign-domain-verification=KaParXxs1OHDy7o8CMbPpHBN-2m_mzwdPqKMMQ66a6
google-site-verification=EYD0GgZG7e4VneTb6Omf_bZO75pyQ_0Iof-cXOTeVB4
SPF v=spf1 include:amazonses.com include:spf-00385001.pphosted.com include:carmamail...
globalsign-domain-verification=2BB251A764D35D13AFB2547B1D198879
mandrill_verify.ch7zbJes1DrZZGLR1jocKQ
facebook-domain-verification=an8odz1d8pvh0fevnqjateheauacu5
google-site-verification=KmVemfZPMUWl9H1t0OovLv4NCcKGM6T-rQHE4wYvKNQ
MS=ms15381592
3HLaqb38HMGEdcUycz8kusTSLoN7QRncsIkFCTUYvD7xSBZwn0REfEqBjuJnK9L38Pop+9jzC1wCFTNZ...
CAALookup not available with standard resolver
Resolved in 38 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.

A+
Redirect Chain
No redirects — direct access
PASS
No redirects — direct access
Info::
No redirects — direct access
Got: https://montrealgazette.com

https://montrealgazette.com

9 ms · HTTP/1.1 FINAL

#URLStatusTimeProtocolServer
1https://montrealgazette.com2009 msHTTP/1.1nginx
A+
Crawlability
robots.txt present, sitemap with 2349 URLs
PASS
robots.txt present, sitemap with 2349 URLs
Info::
robots.txt is present
Got: 2071 bytes
Info::
sitemap.xml is present
Info::
sitemap.xml is valid XML
Info::
sitemap.xml contains 2349 entries
Info::
Sitemap index with 2349 child sitemaps
Info::
robots.txt references sitemap
robots.txt 200 OK
Size 2071 B Sitemaps referenced 6 User-agents anthropic-ai, Claude-Web, ProRataBot, ds9Bot, Bytespider, ClaudeBot, omgilibot, FacebookBot, Google-Extended, Perplexity-User, bedrockbot, Applebot-Extended, Googlebot-News, omgili, Amazonbot, AmazonAdBot, CCBot, Cision-Bot, Cedrom, Fullintel, Baiduspider, Gemini-Deep-Research, Meta-WebIndexer, TurnitinBot, NovaAct, *, PetalBot, GPTBot, PerplexityBot, Meta-ExternalAgent, scornerCisionBot, FullintelBot Blocking No — crawling allowed
# ====================

# Specific Bot Rules

# ====================

User-agent: AmazonAdBot

Disallow: /

User-agent: Googlebot-News

Disallow: /category/sponsored/

Disallow: /sponsored/

User-agent: omgilibot

Disallow: /

User-agent: omgili

Disallow: /

User-agent: TurnitinBot

Disallow: /search/

Disallow: /search

Crawl-delay: 10
User-agent: FacebookBot

Disallow: /

User-agent: Amazonbot

Disallow: /

User-agent: PetalBot

Disallow: /

User-agent: Baiduspider

Disallow: /

# ====================

# AI / LLM Crawlers

# ====================

User-agent: GPTBot

Disallow: /

User-agent: CCBot

Disallow: /

User-agent: anthropic-ai

Disallow: /

User-agent: ClaudeBot

Disallow: /

User-agent: Claude-Web

Disallow: /

User-agent: Google-Extended

Disallow: /

User-agent: Gemini-Deep-Research

Disallow: /

User-agent: PerplexityBot

Disallow: /

User-agent: Perplexity-User

Disallow: /

User-agent: ProRataBot

Disallow: /

User-agent: Meta-ExternalAgent

Disallow: /

User-agent: Meta-WebIndexer

Disallow: /

User-agent: NovaAct

Disallow: /

User-agent: bedrockbot

Disallow: /

User-agent: ds9Bot

Disallow: /

User-agent: scornerCisionBot

Disallow: /

User-agent: Cision-Bot

Disallow: /

User-agent: Cedrom

Disallow: /

User-agent: Bytespider

Disallow: /

User-agent: Applebot-Extended

Disallow: /

User-agent: FullintelBot

Disallow: /

User-agent: Fullintel

Disallow: /

# ====================

# Global Rules

# ====================

User-agent: *

Disallow: /?s=

Disallow: /search

Disallow: /search/

Disallow: /*?preview_id=*

Disallow: /wp-admin/

Disallow: /cms-admin/

Disallow: /?p=

Allow: /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php

# ====================

# Sitemaps

# ====================

Sitemap: https://montrealgazette.com/sitemap.xml

Sitemap: https://montrealgazette.com/categories-sitemap.xml

Sitemap: https://montrealgazette.com/authors-sitemap.xml

Sitemap: https://montrealgazette.com/news-sitemap.xml

Sitemap: https://montrealgazette.com/sitemaps/article-archive.xml

Sitemap: https://montrealgazette.com/sitemaps/article-new.xml
sitemap.xml 200 OK
Type Sitemap Index URLs 2349 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: non-www)
Info::
HTTP correctly 301-redirects to HTTPS

www / non-www

301https://www.montrealgazette.com/
200https://montrealgazette.com/

Preferred variant: non-www

HTTP → HTTPS

301http://montrealgazette.com/ → https://montrealgazette.com/

Consistent

A+
Domain Intelligence
montrealgazette.com — via Webnames.ca Inc., 30 years, 9 months old, hosted on WordPress.com (Automattic)
PASS
montrealgazette.com — via Webnames.ca Inc., 30 years, 9 months old, hosted on WordPress.com (Automattic)
Info::
Domain registered until Dec 22, 2026 (8 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: Webnames.ca Inc.
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: WordPress.com (Automattic)
Got: AS2635
Domain expiry

189 days

December 22, 2026

SSL certificate

48 days

Issued by Let's Encrypt

Domain age

30 years, 9 months

Registered December 23, 1995

DNSSEC

Not enabled

Protects against DNS spoofing

Hosting

WordPress.com (Automattic)

ASN AS2635

192.0.66.53

Registrar

Webnames.ca Inc.

Unlocked 4 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
  • Enable registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited) to block unauthorized domain transfers
Registrar Webnames.ca Inc.
Created December 23, 1995 (30 years, 9 months ago)
Expires December 22, 2026 (8 months)
Last Updated January 27, 2026
Name Servers ns-cloud-c1.googledomains.com, ns-cloud-c2.googledomains.com, ns-cloud-c3.googledomains.com, ns-cloud-c4.googledomains.com
DNSSEC Not enabled
Hosting
IP Address 192.0.66.53
ASN AS2635 (AUTOMATTIC - Automattic, Inc, US)
Provider WordPress.com (Automattic)
Data source: rdap (0.4s)

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

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

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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