Naming Servers

How do you name your servers? Cute and cuddly? Sterile but functional? Or perhaps mandated by management? Let’s discuss the different conventions and why to implement them.

A coworker pointed out this article on host naming conventions because it caused such a controversy among the SAs. Go ahead and take a look now, just come back when you are done. So, here are some of the conventions I have used.

The Cute Theme

Is there anyone who has not had a host in the Star Trek themed domain? Choosing a fun theme for naming your hosts is good for entertainment value. Explaining that “grumpy.opssa.net is down” is good for a laugh, even if it’s not very descriptive. Letting your user’s name their own can be good for morale, though.

The Coded Name

In one company, we named each host “Host1234″ and just changed the number for each host. We kept a database of hosts, so we could lookup location, component info, even repair history.

At another we used the host’s serial number as the hostname. We would then record details about the host in a DNS “INFO” record.

The URL Name

A URL encodes the location of an object in the name of the object itself. A really long name. You can do the same general thing in your hostnames. Name the host with any combination of location, function, model or any other information you need. This technique can produce some long hostnames, so keep that in mind if it matters to you.

Or Chose Any Combination

Don’t forget that utilizing DNS “CNAMEs” you don’t have to choose just one technique. Even multiple domains can be used.

So, what technique do you use? Tell us in the comments.