Service Summary

Internet resources such as websites, servers, and printers are assigned domain names for identification purposes. A Domain Name Server (DNS) translates domain names into IP addresses for communication between devices. Mason’s primary domain name is gmu.edu.

A “fully qualified domain name” for a network device consists of a host name followed by its domain name. Subdomains may optionally be used to assign unique names to particular departments, organizations, or projects. Examples of subdomains are cos.gmu.edu, ite.gmu.edu, and itservices.gmu.edu. The fully qualified device name for a computer assigned to a subdomain consists of its host name followed by its subdomain name, e.g. “server1.cos.gmu.edu”.

Most computers and printers at Mason are automatically assigned an IP address if they are set up to use Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). Using the Mason domain name and device identification, you can connect to your computer or printer from other systems within Mason's network. For example, if your printer's factory-assigned host name is NPI1234, you can connect to it using the domain name NPI1234.mesa.gmu.edu. For most devices at Mason, such as workstations and printers, the default subdomain is mesa.gmu.edu. DNS names must be approved by ITS.