Why Do We Name Servers the Way We Do?

jfruhlinger writes "If you use a Unix machine, it probably has a funny name. And if you work in an environment where there are multiple Unix machines, they probably have funny names that are variations on a theme. No, you're not the only one! This article explores the phenomenon, showing that even the CIA uses a whimsical server naming scheme." What are some of your best (worst?) naming schemes?

Comments

Worst naming scheme:

[El_Muerte_TDS]

functional naming.

Machines need arbitrary names, functional names are aliases.

Break it down

[DigiShaman]

Use this convention for naming servers. company - airport code - role. For example, MSFT-PDX-MAIL01 (or DC01, TS01, APP01, etc)

Re:Break it down

[initialE]

And a server that serves more than 1 role? or if you're trying to fit names into a small namespace? Or you ever have to pass the name over the phone to a colleague?

Re:Rebel

[WillAffleckUW]

mod this one up!

I remember the first computer I networked I changed so it showed up as H3110 (Hello) ... since they insisted on numbers.

from rfc2100

[nemo]

(ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2100.txt)

The Naming of Hosts is a difficult matter,
                It isn't just one of your holiday games;
        You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
                When I tell you, a host must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.

        First of all, there's the name that the users use daily,
                Such as venus, athena, and cisco, and ames,
        Such as titan or sirius, hobbes or europa--
                All of them sensible everyday names.

        There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
                Some for the web pages, some for the flames:
        Such as mercury, phoenix, orion, and charon--
                But all of them sensible everyday names.

        But I tell you, a host needs a name that's particular,
                A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
        Else how can it keep its home page perpendicular,
                And spread out its data, send pages world wide?

        Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
                Like lothlorien, pothole, or kobyashi-maru,
        Such as pearly-gates.vatican, or else diplomatic-
                Names that never belong to more than one host.

        But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
                And that is the name that you never will guess;
        The name that no human research can discover--
                But THE NAMESERVER KNOWS, and will us'ually confess.

        When you notice a client in rapt meditation,
                The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
        The code is engaged in a deep consultation
                On the address, the address, the address of its name:

                                It's ineffable,
                                effable,
                                Effanineffable,
                                Deep and inscrutable,
                                singular
                                Name.

Re:Wines, cheeses, trees

[revlayle]

We never use standard names, our company deals with lots of e-payments and the idea is that the less obvious our naming scheme is, the more difficult it is for hacker to really figure out what the purpose of a server is and what it may store.

A little extra work for us, but we have ways internally of handling this issue without much headache.

Re:Well, I'm currently using Fwiffo.

[TheRealMindChild]

See, I don't get it. WHY would you name your servers this? If you smack your head or have a hard night drinking, would you know FOR SURE that ServerX is the file server or the database server? Would you code like that? At least make the names useful.

Personally, I like MrDomainController, MrNameServer, MrFileServer, etc. Have a backup? Meet MsDomainController. Need yet another backup? JrDomainController? Need another one? No you don't. See, easy, unambiguous, useful.

Yay for colours!

[adamkennedy]

For smaller setups with less than ten machines, I like to use colours.

Red - Production Server
Orange - Staging Server
Yellow - Test Server
Green - Dev Server
Blue/Purple/etc etc for other things like the database server etc.

This way, when I'm setting up PuTTY or another shell, I can set the foreground text colour for each machine to match the server name, which stops most of those embarrassing mistakes when you run a command on production that you meant to run on test, and so on.

Re:Well, I'm currently using Fwiffo.

[Gumbercules!!]

This is why my mail server is 192.168.1.25 and the web server is 192.168.1.80, etc. Dev web server is 192.168.1.81. At least you can guess by the IP what it's about, based on that scheme.

Oh and their names?
Moiraine
Berelain
etc...

Re:Why...

[h4rm0ny]

Not only that, but names can help you remember which server is for what purpose. My four computers at one employer were 'Sadism', 'Masochism', 'Bondage' and 'Discipline'. I got away with that for nearly half a year before my team leader noticed. Anyway, Bondage was for all my admin stuff, emails, etc. Discipline was my test rig. Masochism my build scripts, et al. Sadism actual development. I was stretching the definitions a fair bit for some of those, but it did make sense to me. And was no suprise at all to those who knew me. ;)