Host naming
From Sysadmin
Whether it concerns a server farm, or a small installation with a few custom installed servers and desktop systems, selecting a good host naming scheme is important. Unfortunately many organisations give this aspect of system management little or no consideration and introduce problems that were completely avoidable. Selecting a good host naming scheme just requires some planning and adherence to a few simple guidelines.
A good host naming scheme has practical advantages. It can ease communication about systems during a conversation. If systems have distinct, recognisable and pronouncable names then humans will tend to use them. If the names are difficult to say or pronounce (among other problems) then users will start using abbreviations or ambiguous terms like "the computer".
This page covers several options for a host naming convention.
When determining a host naming scheme it is important to determine whether the hostname will be used as an identifier in asset tracking.
Several suggestions are provided for below. Within each of these suggestions there are a great variety of options, as the examples show.
Contents |
Code
In this naming scheme the host is given an encoded name based on several characteristics, such as its location, and whether it is a production, test or development and whether it is a physical or virtual server.
Advantages
- The schemes are often difficult to pronounce although this is avoidable.
- Conveys important information about the system to those who are familiar with the scheme
Disadvantages
- Those who are unfamiliar with the scheme may be unable to derive any useful information from the name
- Depending on the scheme chosen this may make the hostname unsuitable for asset tracking.
Function
In this naming scheme the hosts are principally named for the services that they provide.
Advantages
- Function of the host is immediately known
Disadvantages
- Host functions may be changed without the system being rebuilt, resulting in a hostname inconsistent with the actual function of the host
- A host may have more than one function and displaying all of these in the hostname may be unwieldy or unachievable, leading to ambiguity in host naming.
- Unsuitable if the hostname is used for asset tracking as the hostname will change if the host is repurposed.
- May result in many hosts having nearly identical names increasing the chance of an action being performed on the wrong host.
Thoughts
- Especially suitable particularly suitable for virtual servers that are often single function by design.
Theme
Advantages
- Hostnames are easy for humans to remember
Disadvantages
- Does not scale past a few dozen hosts.
Thoughts
- This approach is useful when each host has an individual personality. Thus a small business where each host is built individually may find this useful.
Example
In this example the host name is themed and still identifies the form factor of the host.
| Case | Name type | Examples |
| 1U Rackmount | Bird | eagle,hawk |
| 2U Rackmount | Mammal | tiger,panther,bear |
| 3U Rackmount | Reptile | iguana,monitor,komodo |
| 4U+ Rackmount | Fish | salmon,tuna |
| Desktop System | Tree | willow,cedar,elm,birch |
| Laptop System | Plant | ficus,azalea,vanda |
| Other types of hosts | Insects | dragonfly,fly,bee,ladybug |
Special Note
Thanks to Neil Watson who's blog made me realise that I needed rework this page to make it easier to understand.
See Also
External Links
This page is a stub. Robert will add additional information to the page later.
