Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Server Naming Conventions?

Posted by michael on from the never-run-out-of-tolkien-characters dept.

Some random reader sent in: "Hi, I'm wondering what others out there use for server naming conventions. Our data centre right now houses a little under 200 servers, with plans to grow up to 4000 servers within the next five years. We'd like to pick something flexible and easy to manage with any tracking system. The servers we'll be implementing include SUN, HPUX, and AIX servers, in addition to existing Compaq and HP Intel servers, so we'll have to adhere to limitations placed on hostnames by manufacturers (ie HPUX lets you have an 8 character hostname)." We had a similar story a few years ago.

The reader continues:

"Here's a few ideas we've been tossing around, using Joe's Deli as an example:

- [four letter "name"][two letter service type][2 numbers] eg) jdelwb03.domain.com
+ easy to determine the function and name
- hard to remember and pronounce, once you run out of four character servers, determining the name and function will be difficult. Joe's Deli and John's Delivery will have conflicting names

- [random combination of numbers and letters]
eg) ak1jop3d.domain.com
+ none really
- confusing.. really confusing. Can you imagine saying to someone "log on to alpha kappa one john omikron peter three delta?"

- [theme based name]
name servers based on a theme, eg Gundam
eg) zaku.domain.com, gelgoog.domain.com
+ easily identifiable - all Gundam names belong to Joe's Deli, easy to pronounce and remember
- hard for a new tech or management (why would they need to know?) to associate to a server

"I'd like to know what others in the tech community use for server naming policies when planning large scale data centres. Also, with data centres located nationally, does the naming convention pose any problems? Thanks."

3 of 959 comments (clear)

  1. Check the RFC by wiredog · · Score: 5, Informative

    RFC 1178, Choosing a Name for Your Computer

    --

    Best Slashdot Co
    1. Re:Check the RFC by mmontour · · Score: 5, Informative

      Also see RFC2100, "The Naming of Hosts"

  2. Sheesh people, use subdomains by defile · · Score: 5, Informative

    The LIRR homepage is http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/lirr/. The LIRR is run by the MTA, which is located in NYC, which is a city in NY, which is located in the US. Perfect scheme, and a suprisingly decent application of DNS. Especially for government.

    So why suffer with jdeli342.domain.com? Why not a.jdeli.domain.com, b.jdeli.domain.com, etc? In addition to allowing for easier delegation of services, you can set search orders in /etc/resolv.conf so you can simply type ``ssh b'' to hop from host a to host b. That's just golden.

    Some other examples..

    Mail Exchangers

    a.mx.domain.com
    b.mx.domain.com

    Nameservers

    c.ns.fudge.domain.com
    d.ns.fudge.domain.com

    Web servers

    e.web.domain.com
    f.web.domain.com

    And so on. If you get to z, make the next one aa, and then ab, etc.

    Also, functional names should not replace cute names. DNS allows you to assign more than one name to a machine. If a machine is repurposed for another ask, it should still be known by its unique cute name no matter where it goes. At the same time, a single host can have more than one functional name.

    No reason barney.domain.com can't also be bc.web.domain.com and e.porn.domain.com. :)

    A source of cute names? Oh, uhm, right now I use Roman empererors. There were tons of them.