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Network Working Group                                          D. LibesRequest for Comments: 1178                Integrated Systems Group/NISTFYI: 5                                                      August 1990Choosing a Name for Your ComputerStatus of this Memo   This FYI RFC is a republication of a Communications of the ACM   article on guidelines on what to do and what not to do when naming   your computer [1].  This memo provides information for the Internet   community.  It does not specify any standard.   Distribution of this memo is unlimited.Abstract   In order to easily distinguish between multiple computers, we give   them names.  Experience has taught us that it is as easy to choose   bad names as it is to choose good ones.  This essay presents   guidelines for deciding what makes a name good or bad.   Keywords: domain name system, naming conventions, computer   administration, computer network managementIntroduction   As soon as you deal with more than one computer, you need to   distinguish between them.  For example, to tell your system   administrator that your computer is busted, you might say, "Hey Ken.   Goon is down!"   Computers also have to be able to distinguish between themselves.   Thus, when sending mail to a colleague at another computer, you might   use the command "mail libes@goon".   In both cases, "goon" refers to a particular computer.  How the name   is actually dereferenced by a human or computer need not concern us   here.  This essay is only concerned with choosing a "good" name.  (It   is assumed that the reader has a basic understanding of the domain   name system as described by [2].)   By picking a "good" name for your computer, you can avoid a number of   problems that people stumble over again and again.   Here are some guidelines on what NOT to do.Libes                                                           [Page 1]

RFC 1178                   Name Your Computer                August 1990      Don't overload other terms already in common use.         Using a word that has strong semantic implications in the         current context will cause confusion.  This is especially true         in conversation where punctuation is not obvious and grammar is         often incorrect.         For example, a distributed database had been built on top of         several computers.  Each one had a different name.  One machine         was named "up", as it was the only one that accepted updates.         Conversations would sound like this: "Is up down?"  and "Boot         the machine up." followed by "Which machine?"         While it didn't take long to catch on and get used to this         zaniness, it was annoying when occasionally your mind would         stumble, and you would have to stop and think about each word         in a sentence.  It is as if, all of a sudden, English has         become a foreign language.      Don't choose a name after a project unique to that machine.         A manufacturing project had named a machine "shop" since it was         going to be used to control a number of machines on a shop         floor.  A while later, a new machine was acquired to help with         some of the processing.  Needless to say, it couldn't be called         "shop" as well.  Indeed, both machines ended up performing more         specific tasks, allowing more precision in naming.  A year         later, five new machines were installed and the original one         was moved to an unrelated project.  It is simply impossible to         choose generic names that remain appropriate for very long.         Of course, they could have called the second one "shop2" and so         on.  But then one is really only distinguishing machines by         their number.  You might as well just call them "1", "2", and         "3".  The only time this kind of naming scheme is appropriate         is when you have a lot of machines and there are no reasons for         any human to distinguish between them.  For example, a master         computer might be controlling an array of one hundred         computers.  In this case, it makes sense to refer to them with         the array indices.         While computers aren't quite analogous to people, their names         are.  Nobody expects to learn much about a person by their         name.  Just because a person is named "Don" doesn't mean he is         the ruler of the world (despite what the "Choosing a Name for         your Baby" books say).  In reality, names are just arbitrary         tags.  You cannot tell what a person does for a living, what         their hobbies are, and so on.Libes                                                           [Page 2]

RFC 1178                   Name Your Computer                August 1990      Don't use your own name.         Even if a computer is sitting on your desktop, it is a mistake         to name it after yourself.  This is another case of         overloading, in which statements become ambiguous.  Does "give         the disk drive to don" refer to a person or computer?         Even using your initials (or some other moniker) is         unsatisfactory.  What happens if I get a different machine         after a year?  Someone else gets stuck with "don" and I end up         living with "jim".  The machines can be renamed, but that is         excess work and besides, a program that used a special         peripheral or database on "don" would start failing when it         wasn't found on the "new don".         It is especially tempting to name your first computer after         yourself, but think about it.  Do you name any of your other         possessions after yourself?  No.  Your dog has its own name, as         do your children.  If you are one of those who feel so inclined         to name your car and other objects, you certainly don't reuse         your own name.  Otherwise you would have a great deal of         trouble distinguishing between them in speech.         For the same reason, it follows that naming your computer the         same thing as your car or another possession is a mistake.      Don't use long names.         This is hard to quantify, but experience has shown that names         longer than eight characters simply annoy people.         Most systems will allow prespecified abbreviations, but why not         choose a name that you don't have to abbreviate to begin with?         This removes any chance of confusion.      Avoid alternate spellings.         Once we called a machine "czek".  In discussion, people         continually thought we were talking about a machine called         "check".  Indeed, "czek" isn't even a word (although "Czech"         is).         Purposely incorrect (but cute) spellings also tend to annoy a         large subset of people.  Also, people who have learned English         as a second language often question their own knowledge upon         seeing a word that they know but spelled differently.  ("I         guess I've always been spelling "funxion" incorrectly.  How         embarrassing!")Libes                                                           [Page 3]

RFC 1178                   Name Your Computer                August 1990         By now you may be saying to yourself, "This is all very         silly...people who have to know how to spell a name will learn         it and that's that." While it is true that some people will         learn the spelling, it will eventually cause problems         somewhere.         For example, one day a machine named "pythagoris" (sic) went         awry and began sending a tremendous number of messages to the         site administrator's computer.  The administrator, who wasn't a         very good speller to begin with, had never seen this machine         before (someone else had set it up and named it), but he had to         deal with it since it was clogging up the network as well as         bogging down his own machine which was logging all the errors.         Needless to say, he had to look it up every time he needed to         spell "pythagoris".  (He suspected there was an abbreviation,         but he would have had to log into yet another computer (the         local nameserver) to find out and the network was too jammed to         waste time doing that.)      Avoid domain names.         For technical reasons, domain names should be avoided.  In         particular, name resolution of non-absolute hostnames is         problematic.  Resolvers will check names against domains before         checking them against hostnames.  But we have seen instances of         mailers that refuse to treat single token names as domains.         For example, assume that you mail to "libes@rutgers" from         yale.edu.  Depending upon the implementation, the mail may go         to rutgers.edu or rutgers.yale.edu (assuming both exist).      Avoid domain-like names.         Domain names are either organizational (e.g., cia.gov) or         geographical (e.g., dallas.tx.us).  Using anything like these         tends to imply some connection.  For example, the name "tahiti"         sounds like it means you are located there.  This is confusing         if it is really somewhere else (e.g., "tahiti.cia.gov is         located in Langley, Virginia?  I thought it was the CIA's         Tahiti office!").  If it really is located there, the name         implies that it is the only computer there.  If this isn't         wrong now, it inevitably will be.         There are some organizational and geographical names that work         fine.  These are exactly the ones that do not function well as         domain names.  For example, amorphous names such as rivers,         mythological places and other impossibilities are very         suitable.  ("earth" is not yet a domain name.)Libes                                                           [Page 4]

RFC 1178                   Name Your Computer                August 1990      Don't use antagonistic or otherwise embarrassing names.         Words like "moron" or "twit" are good names if no one else is         going to see them.  But if you ever give someone a demo on your         machine, you may find that they are distracted by seeing a         nasty word on your screen.  (Maybe their spouse called them         that this morning.)  Why bother taking the chance that they         will be turned off by something completely irrelevant to your         demo.      Don't use digits at the beginning of the name.         Many programs accept a numerical internet address as well as a         name.  Unfortunately, some programs do not correctly         distinguish between the two and may be fooled, for example, by         a string beginning with a decimal digit.         Names consisting entirely of hexadecimal digits, such as         "beef", are also problematic, since they can be interpreted         entirely as hexadecimal numbers as well as alphabetic strings.      Don't use non-alphanumeric characters in a name.         Your own computer may handle punctuation or control characters         in a name, but most others do not.  If you ever expect to         connect your computer to a heterogeneous network, you can count         on a variety of interpretations of non-alphanumeric characters         in names.  Network conventions on this are surprisingly         nonstandard.      Don't expect case to be preserved.         Upper and lowercase characters look the same to a great deal of         internet software, often under the assumption that it is doing         you a favor.  It may seem appropriate to capitalize a name the         same way you might do it in English, but convention dictates         that computer names appear all lowercase.  (And it saves         holding down the shift key.)   Now that we've heard what not to do, here are some suggestions on   names that work well.      Use words/names that are rarely used.         While a word like "typical" or "up" (see above) isn't computer         jargon, it is just too likely to arise in discussion and throw         off one's concentration while determining the correct referent.         Instead, use words like "lurch" or "squire" which are unlikelyLibes                                                           [Page 5]

RFC 1178                   Name Your Computer                August 1990         to cause any confusion.         You might feel it is safe to use the name "jose" just because         no one is named that in your group, but you will have a problem         if you should happen to hire Jose.  A name like "sphinx" will         be less likely to conflict with new hires.      Use theme names.         Naming groups of machines in a common way is very popular, and         enhances communality while displaying depth of knowledge as         well as imagination.  A simple example is to use colors, such         as "red" and "blue".  Personality can be injected by choices         such as "aqua" and "crimson".         Certain sets are finite, such as the seven dwarfs.  When you         order your first seven computers, keep in mind that you will         probably get more next year.  Colors will never run out.         Some more suggestions are: mythical places (e.g., Midgard,         Styx, Paradise), mythical people (e.g., Procne, Tereus, Zeus),         killers (e.g., Cain, Burr, Boleyn), babies (e.g., colt, puppy,         tadpole, elver), collectives (e.g., passel, plague, bevy,         covey), elements (e.g., helium, argon, zinc), flowers (e.g.,         tulip, peony, lilac, arbutus).  Get the idea?      Use real words.         Random strings are inappropriate for the same reason that they         are so useful for passwords.  They are hard to remember.  Use         real words.      Don't worry about reusing someone else's hostname.         Extremely well-known hostnames such as "sri-nic" and "uunet"         should be avoided since they are understood in conversation as         absolute addresses even without a domain.  In all other cases,         the local domain is assumed to qualify single-part hostnames.         This is similar to the way phone numbers are qualified by an         area code when dialed from another area.         In other words, if you have choosen a reasonable name, you do         not have to worry that it has already been used in another         domain.  The number of hosts in a bottom-level domain is small,         so it shouldn't be hard to pick a name unique only to that         domain.Libes                                                           [Page 6]

RFC 1178                   Name Your Computer                August 1990      There is always room for an exception.         I don't think any explanation is needed here.  However, let me         add that if you later decide to change a name (to something         sensible like you should have chosen in the first place), you         are going to be amazed at the amount of pain awaiting you.  No         matter how easy the manuals suggest it is to change a name, you         will find that lots of obscure software has rapidly accumulated         which refers to that computer using that now-ugly name.  It all         has to be found and changed.  People mailing to you from other         sites have to be told.  And you will have to remember that         names on old backup media labels correspond to different names.         I could go on but it would be easier just to forget this         guideline exists.Conclusion   Most people don't have the opportunity to name more than one or two   computers, while site administrators name large numbers of them.  By   choosing a name wisely, both user and administrator will have an   easier time of remembering, discussing and typing the names of their   computers.   I have tried to formalize useful guidelines for naming computers,   along with plenty of examples to make my points obvious.  Having been   both a user and site administrator, many of these anecdotes come from   real experiences which I have no desire to relive.  Hopefully, you   will avoid all of the pitfalls I have discussed by choosing your   computer's name wisely.Credits   Thanks to the following people for suggesting some of these   guidelines and participating in numerous discussions on computer   naming: Ed Barkmeyer, Peter Brown, Chuck Hedrick, Ken Manheimer, and   Scott Paisley.   This essay first appeared in the Communications of the ACM, November,   1989, along with a Gary Larson cartoon reprinted with permission of   United Press Syndicate.  The text is not subject to copyright, since   it is work of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.   However, the author, CACM, and NIST request that this credit appear   with the article whenever it is reprinted.Libes                                                           [Page 7]

RFC 1178                   Name Your Computer                August 1990References   [1]  Libes, D., "Choosing a Name for Your Computer", Communications   of the ACM, Vol. 32, No. 11, Pg. 1289, November 1989.   [2]  Mockapetris, P., "Domain Names - Concepts and Facilities",RFC 1034, USC/Information Sciences Institute, November 1987.Security Considerations   Security issues are not discussed in this memo.Author's Address   Don Libes   Integrated Systems Group   National Institute of Standards and Technology   Gaithersburg, MD 20899   Phone: (301) 975-3535   EMail:  libes@cme.nist.govLibes                                                           [Page 8]