The Princeton University Host Database has long been the authoritative service containing information about devices connected to the University's data network.
It has been used to assign names to networked devices (both physical and virtual), allocate IP (Internet Protocol) addresses, record hardware addresses, and perform related networking functions. The Host Database has been the source of the information in the University's DNS (Domain Name Service) data maintained by OIT, the information used by OIT DHCP/BootP services, and the data used for a variety of other network or information technology facilities.
OIT is retiring the Host Database and related services, and introducing new services. In this announcement, OIT announced that the Host Database will no longer accept network registrations.
The Host Database is being retired by OIT:
The Host Database will be frozen at that time; its content will not be updated again after that time.
After that time, customers who send email to hostmaster requesting changes to information in the Host Database will be directed to use the new Network Registration service in SN@P, and will be directed to use SN@P to request any needed assistance or information.
That web page will continue to allow viewing/searching the content of the Host Database, but that content is frozen, no longer being updated. It will rapidly become stale, no longer reflecting reality.
As noted below, OIT expects to retire the Viewing the Host Database web page some days after the Host Database's retirement. No replacement is planned after that time to provide viewing/searching of the Host Database's frozen content.
It will continue to allow reading the content of the Host Database, but that content is frozen, no longer being updated. It will rapidly become stale, no longer reflecting reality.
As noted below, OIT expects to retire Programmatic access to the Host Database some days after the Host Database's retirement. No replacement is planned after that time to provide programmatic access to read the Host Database's frozen content.
That web page will continue to allow viewing the Host Database Departmental Contacts, but that content is frozen, no longer being updated. It will rapidly become stale, no longer reflecting reality. It will no longer allow updating the Host Database Departmental Contacts.
As noted below, OIT expects to retire the Host Database Departmental Contacts List web page some days after the Host Database's retirement. No replacement is planned after that time.
That web page will continue to allow viewing that table but that content is frozen, no longer being updated. It will rapidly become stale, no longer reflecting reality.
As noted below, OIT expects to retire the Department Name to Department Number Table and the parseable text version of the same information web page some days after the Host Database's retirement. No replacement is planned after that time.
Documentation about the new Network Registration service is available in the Service Portal. In particular, see ServiceNow: Network Registration Index.
Not all information will be copied. Detailed information from OIT about what will and will not be copied is not available.
The Network Registration service also will obtain some of its information from data sources other than the Host Database. Detailed information from OIT about that is not presently available.
The copy of some data based on the Host Database to the Network Registration service is a one-time event.
The data in the Host Database will not be changed again after that time, and data from the Network Registration service will not be copied back to the Host Database. Although access to view the content of the Host Database will remain available for a short time after the Network Registration is introduced, information and changes made in the Network Registration service will not be transmitted back to the Host Database.
Some of those published documents are dynamically generated relying on data in the Host Database; those may become stale or empty.
A number of OIT services which rely on the Host Database also are being retired, replaced, or changed at the same time as the Host Database's retirement.
These changes will happen between the morning of Friday January 25 2019 and the morning of Monday January 28 2019, a time referred to below as the transition period.
These services obtain their data from the Host Database, and expect to feed data back into the Host Database; they cannot continue to operate without the Host Database sending and receive updated information. These services also rely on legacy CMU+PU DHCP/BootP Server software OIT is retiring at that time. These services also run on legacy physical servers running a legacy operating system, both of which OIT plans to retire later in 2019.
OIT will introduce new DHCP and BootP services. This will happen during the transition period.
OIT expects the devices using OIT DHCP and BootP Services during the transition period will see little or no interruption to DHCP or BootP service as the old services are retired and the new services are introduced.
Detailed documentation from OIT describing the new DHCP and BootP services is not presently available. The behavior of those services will not be identical to the old services.
Until the transition period, Legacy OIT DNS Service obtains Princeton University's DNS data from the Host Database.
During the transition period, Legacy OIT DNS Service will be reconfigured to obtain Princeton University's DNS data from a new OIT DNS Service.
OIT expects that devices using Legacy OIT DNS Service during the transition period will see little or no apparent interruption of that service as it is reconfigured.
DNS clients of Legacy OIT DNS Service have been moving to the new OIT DNS Service during late 2018. (Some began moving earlier.) DNS clients of Legacy OIT DNS Service which learned of their DNS servers from OIT DHCP and BootP Services need only reboot after November 29 2018 to switch to using the new OIT DNS Service. Other DNS clients of Legacy OIT DNS Service will need to be manually reconfigured to switch to use the new OIT DNS Service.
Those DNS client still using Legacy OIT DNS Service will need to complete moving to the new OIT DNS Service in early 2019. OIT has been identifying and contacting some of those customers since late 2018, and expects to continue doing so in early 2019.
OIT expects to retire the Legacy OIT DNS Service June 11 2019. (The service runs on legacy physical servers running a legacy operating system, both of which OIT will retire.) At that time, if any DNS clients are still attempting to use Legacy OIT DNS Service, those DNS clients will lose DNS service until they take action to switch to OIT DNS Service.
Until the transition period, OIT DNS Service obtains its DNS data from Legacy OIT DNS Service.
During the transition period, the new OIT DNS Service will be reconfigured to instead rely on the information affiliated with the new Network Registration service. (The link above to the new Network Registration service will not function until that service is available.)
OIT expects that devices using OIT DNS Service during the transition period will see little or no apparent interruption of that service as it is reconfigured.
That service relies on the Host Database and OIT DHCP and BootP Services, both of which OIT is retiring during that time.
OIT will introduce a new (presently unnamed) service to provide a replacement for some of the functionality of OIT Static IP Service That will happen during the transition period.
Detailed documentation from OIT describing that new service is not presently available. The behavior of the new service will not be identical to OIT Static IP Service.
That service relies on the Host Database and OIT DHCP Service, both of which OIT is retiring during that time.
OIT will introduce a new (presently unnamed) service to provide a replacement for some of the functionality of OIT Mobile IP Service. That will happen during the transition period.
Detailed documentation from OIT describing that new service is not presently available. The behavior of the new service will not be identical to OIT Mobile IP Service.
Included in the retirement of OIT Mobile IP Service is the retirement of Mobile IP Camping functionality, part of that service. The Mobile IP Camping functionality helps the University avoid running out of IPv4 addresses, especially globally-routable IPv4 addresses. It also helps maintain an adequate pool of OIT Static IP Addresses and OIT Mobile IP Addresses on each network. No replacement is planned at this time.
SIRF helped the University avoid running out of IPv4 addresses, particularly globally-routable IP addresses.
SIRF relied on (and was part of) the Host Database.
A replacement for SIRF does not exist at this time.
Dormnet is a service which allows students (and certain other student-like customers) to register personally-owned devices for network service at Princeton University.
(Dormnet should not be confused with the network named pu-dormnet-bb. That network is not being retired.)
The service also encourages registration of those devices in a manner which reduces waste of globally-routable IPv4 addresses, and automates reclaiming those registrations once a customer graduates. This helps the University avoid running out of globally-routable IPv4 addresses, and helps keep the registration system, DHCP/BootP service, and DNS service from becoming bloated with data from former students.
Dormnet service relies on the Host Database, which is being retired. Dormnet service also is affiliated with OIT DHCP and BootP Services, which are being retired. Dormnet service also is affiliated with OIT Mobile IP Service, which is being retired.
Dormnet service also provided access to OIT Wireless Service. The latter service already is deprecated, and will be retired during 2019. Replacements for OIT Wireless Service were announced earlier by OIT.
Detailed documentation from OIT about registration of student's personally-owned devices to obtain wired network services at Princeton University after Dormnet is retired is not available at this time.
This service relies on the Host Database and OIT DHCP Service and BootP Services, both of which OIT is retiring.
OIT will introduce a new (presently unnamed) service to provide a replacement for functionality of Visitor IP (VIP) Service. That will happen during the transition period.
Detailed documentation from OIT describing the new service is not presently available. The behavior of the new service will not be identical to the old service.
The service helps OIT staff troubleshooting network problems identify traffic senders more efficiently than by manually looking up hardware addresses in a registration database.
That NIS map relies on data in the Host Database, which OIT is retiring. It also relies on the registration system enforcing the uniqueness of registered hardware addresses, something the Host Database provides.
During the transition period (and perhaps for several days after) the NIS ethers map will continue to contain data from the final version of the Host Database. Very soon after the transition period, OIT expects to empty or remove the NIS ethers map.
No replacement for the NIS ethers map is planned.
Some of these included princetonhubs, and princetonhosts.
No replacement for these netgroups are planned.
There are some other NIS netgroups (not based on the Host Database) which OIT is not retiring at this time.
By that time, the information that web page displays will be stale, reflecting the final content of the Host Database when it was retired.
By that time, the information that access provides will be stale, reflecting the final content of the Host Database when it was retired.
By that time, the information in that web page document will be stale, reflecting the final content of the Host Database when it was retired.
These documents are generated by the Host Database. By that time, the information in those documents will be stale, reflecting the final content of the Host Database when it was retired.
No replacement is planned at this time.
No replacement is planned at this time.
No replacement is planned at this time.
No replacement is planned at this time.
That tool primarily provided information from the Host Database .
No replacement is planned.
That tool relied on the Host Database and DNS naming conventions enforced by the Host Database.
No replacement is planned.
That facility alerted OIT staff when any hardware address of interest was registerered in the Host Database. It provided some per-hardware-address information specified at the time the alert for that hardware address was created. The tool typically was used when there was a need for OIT to take follow-up action upon the registration of a formerly-non-registered hardware address.
No replacement is planned.
Some of those dependant services may no longer function in the same manner, or may stop working.
Many published documents refer to the services above. Those documents are not expected to be all removed, revised, or replaced immediately; the documentation effort likely will proceed for some months after the Host Database is retired. Some of those published documents are dynamically generated relying on data in the Host Database; those may become stale or empty starting during the transition period.