Ohio University

Static IP address records verification

Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Sean O'Malley  

In the coming months, OIT will be verifying the location and administrative contact information for all statically addressed computers and peripherals on the university's network.  

Static IP addresses normally are issued to devices like servers, networked printers, and specialized research equipment.

The information gathered will be used to improve communications with the owners of statically addressed equipment.  Because static IP addresses often require manual updating when the underlying network is reconfigured, being able to contact the owners of statically addressed machines before such work happens is crucial. 

OIT will be making every effort to verify the responsible parties for all static addresses.  In some cases, a simple e-mail or telephone call will do.  In other cases, a technician will need to make a site visit to identify who is responsible for a particular computer/printer/server.  Given the size of OHIO's network, this survey will take a number of months to complete.  OIT will send an e-mail reminder to building occupants before any site visits happen, and participating technicians will wear "NextGen" OIT shirts with university ID badges.