Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Why Do We Name Servers the Way We Do?

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the just-no-more-muppets-please dept.

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?

3 of 1,397 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Well, I'm currently using Fwiffo. by TheRealMindChild · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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.

    --

    "When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
  2. Yay for colours! by adamkennedy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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.

  3. Re:Break it down by initialE · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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?

    --
    Starbucks, Harbuckle of Breath.