Infrastructure - https://ucc.ie BeaverCheck Audit

D

Redirect Chain

Action

2 redirect(s), 2782 ms total

FIX

2 redirect(s), 2782 ms total

2 redirects before reaching final URL

Each redirect adds latency. Try to minimize the chain to 1 hop.

WWW normalization redirect

Redirect overhead: 2782 ms total

Got: 2782 ms

https://ucc.ie

868 ms · HTTP/1.1

301

https://www.ucc.ie/

873 ms · HTTP/1.1

301

https://www.ucc.ie/en/

1041 ms · HTTP/1.1 FINAL

#	URL	Status	Time	Protocol	Server
1	https://ucc.ie	301	868 ms	HTTP/1.1	Microsoft-Azure-Application-Gateway/v2
2	https://www.ucc.ie/	301	873 ms	HTTP/1.1	Apache
3	https://www.ucc.ie/en/	200	1041 ms	HTTP/1.1	Apache

See the visual redirect chain in the HTTP Probe tab →

Each redirect adds latency. Try to minimize the chain to 1 hop.

Why this matters

Redirect chain — each hop adds latency; combine into one redirect where possible.

Source: Google Search Central / web.dev

D

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.

C

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

B

HTTP Probe Timing

Total 877 ms — DNS, TCP, TLS, TTFB, content transfer breakdown

REVIEW

DNS Lookup

198 ms

TCP Connect

168 ms

TLS Handshake

344 ms

Time to First Byte

877 ms

Total Time

877 ms

Connection waterfall

DNS Lookup 198 ms TCP Connect 168 ms TLS Handshake 344 ms Server Processing 167 ms Content Transfer 0 ms

B

TLS Certificate Expiry & Recommendations

209 days until leaf cert expires — 3 issues to address

REVIEW

Certificate validity

209

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+

DNS Records

1 A records, 197 ms lookup

PASS

1 A records, 197 ms lookup

Resolves to 1 IPv4 address(es)

Got: 4.208.17.113

Single A record — no DNS redundancy

Multiple A records provide failover if one server goes down.

No IPv6 (AAAA) records

5 nameserver(s) configured

Got: auth-ns2.ucd.ie, ns.ucc.ie, sec-ns.tcd.ie, ns1.surfnet.nl, nsext2.ucc.ie

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: 197 ms

Got: 197 ms

A	4.208.17.113
AAAA	—
CNAME	—
NS	auth-ns2.ucd.ie, ns.ucc.ie, sec-ns.tcd.ie, ns1.surfnet.nl, nsext2.ucc.ie
MX	10 ucc-ie.mail.protection.outlook.com
TXT	barco-verification=cc0dc226-7081-5018-9957-d43da0203191 cloudflare_dashboard_sso=bb8fffed68c45614931bfee3acc1e3c0 facebook-domain-verification=h3qp5eplej2gfxcwdzx1p3qckua5mn CSvzq2bIc3nwGiJ2tPUbgStzjdEHKqg+i50+9HsyZdJeNf0NVY3m/yLglUwLHOGPEn3dkJjjSJVp93E6... adobe-idp-site-verification=3c6395b960f9519e8e59a09cd15e7f333e5e620b97b4d9b981c7... google-site-verification=pCr6ZxhcHq8oBZgCzl1dRndGeiI776iNTT3KZ_TZZK8 apple-domain-verification=kswEbFQdr8ZjicdS SPF v=spf1 ip4:143.239.23.189 ip4:143.239.23.93 include:spf.protection.outlook.com -... Y7OBWL6OB2HWENYVARJBK8N8IVIVQK77ITHR590Y docusign=b1a83ac6-40ea-4c2b-9716-8fc5d00b48ca
CAA	Lookup not available with standard resolver

Resolved in 197 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+

Crawlability

robots.txt present, sitemap with 18086 URLs

PASS

robots.txt present, sitemap with 18086 URLs

robots.txt is present

Got: 747 bytes

sitemap.xml is present

sitemap.xml is valid XML

sitemap.xml contains 18086 entries

robots.txt references sitemap

robots.txt 200 OK

Size 747 B Sitemaps referenced 1 User-agents * Blocking No — crawling allowed

Sitemap: https://www.ucc.ie/en/sitemap-en.xml
#/User-agent: rogerbot
#Allow: /
User-agent: *
Allow: /archive/courier/courierS2002.pdf
Disallow: /archive/
Disallow: /*?
Disallow: /en/SupportandAdministration/PoliciesandProcedures/
Disallow: /en/support/regsa/support/
Disallow: /en/alert
Disallow: /cgi-bin/
Disallow: /en/cgi-bin/
Disallow: /research/celt/old
Disallow: /en/wwwdev/*
Disallow: /en/testace
Disallow: /en/modules/ace
Disallow: /en/2017ck101/*
Disallow: /en/understanding-physics/*
Disallow: /en/ask/maintenance
Disallow: /en/campusaccom/
Disallow: /en/alerts
Disallow: /en/urm
Disallow: /system/*
Disallow: /en/study/postgrad/crmdocs
Disallow: /en/student-forum/*
Disallow: /en/granite-test/*
Disallow: /*satellite/
Disallow: /pure/*

sitemap.xml 200 OK

Type URL Set URLs 18086 entries Valid XML Yes

Sample URLs:

A+

URL Variants

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

PASS

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

www/non-www redirect configured correctly (preferred: non-www)

HTTP correctly 301-redirects to HTTPS

www / non-www

301https://www.ucc.ie/

200https://ucc.ie/

Preferred variant: non-www

HTTP → HTTPS

301http://ucc.ie/ → https://ucc.ie/

Consistent

A+

Domain Intelligence

ucc.ie — via HEAnet, 26 years, 11 months old, hosted on Microsoft Azure

PASS

ucc.ie — via HEAnet, 26 years, 11 months old, hosted on Microsoft Azure

Domain registered until Sep 14, 2027 (1 years, 4 months remaining)

Registrar: HEAnet

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: Microsoft Azure

Got: AS8075

Domain expiry

429 days

September 14, 2027

SSL certificate

209 days

Issued by Hellenic Academic and Research Institutions CA

Domain age

26 years, 11 months

Registered September 13, 1999

DNSSEC

Status unknown

Protects against DNS spoofing

Hosting

Microsoft Azure

ASN AS8075

4.208.17.113

Registrar

HEAnet

Unlocked 5 NS records

Expiry timeline

Today

+1 year

Domain expiry SSL expiry Danger zone (≤30 days)

Recommended actions

Enable registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited) to block unauthorized domain transfers

Registrar HEAnet

Created September 13, 1999 (26 years, 11 months ago)

Expires September 14, 2027 (1 years, 4 months)

Last Updated November 15, 2020

Name Servers auth-ns2.ucd.ie, ns.ucc.ie, ns1.surfnet.nl, nsext2.ucc.ie, sec-ns.tcd.ie

Hosting

IP Address 4.208.17.113

ASN AS8075 (MICROSOFT-CORP-MSN-AS-BLOCK - Microsoft Corporation, US)

Provider Microsoft Azure

Data source: whois (2.1s)

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