On Jan 31, 2008 10:22 AM, David Lum <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Attacking server naming conventions again, how do you guys name your > servers?
Depends on the nature of the organization. For larger organizations, or if you have lots of servers, a name based on the site, function and a number tend to be the only way to go, especially with the flat naming system Windows still uses internally. For smaller shops with the right attitude (like my current employer), I tend to go with more interesting names, with a theme. Small shops almost always have all their servers being multi-purpose. Naming everything "SRV1", "SRV2", and so on tends to be confusing. For example, at my current main gig, we've got TIGER, PUMA, LION, COUGAR, and NTSERVER. (Can you guess which one has the legacy app that just don't die? ;-) ) At my last main gig, we used Simpsons characters. This doesn't scale up to large orgs, though, and if the place has a stuffy attitude it's not appropriate, either. For the latter, I usually just use "ORGSVR1" or whatever. RFC-1178 has some advice on this, although it's oriented more towards DNS, where the tree structure makes naming conflicts less of an issue. > Currently we use location and function in the name, but what > about a server that does more than one thing? Use a more generic name, like "SRV" or "UTIL" or whatever. Indeed, if it's at all likely a server will be tasked with multiple things, I always try to go with the more generic name. A server named one thing that's really doing more is misleading. Worse is when the original task then gets moved off, and now you have a server named "DC1" that isn't a DC anymore, or something like that. -- Ben ~ Upgrade to Next Generation Antispam/Antivirus with Ninja! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbelt-software.com/SunbeltMessagingNinja.cfm> ~
