[Discussion] How do you name your devices?

[Uptorn]

For those who have several different devices, a compute cluster, a 'homelab' or who are responsible for large deployments; do you adhere to a naming convention?

Is there a particular logic behind your naming scheme?

[CwF]

I name everything but am careful not to use logic necessarily becoming alphanumeric gibberish. Maybe theme, maybe association, maybe purpose. There are patterns. What are we naming?

[Hetzer]

I used (like 2-3 years ago) to call computers by their board / OEM names: asrpc, ibm-x230, etc. - But one day I found it boring and unpractical - How to differ between 4 computers which share same board / are same OEM computer?
So I don't have any pattern in naming anymore, I've started to use nicknames (which have reasons behind them) instead
Some examples:

• "ambassador" since I travel with this computer nearly everywhere
• "last-resort" because it's reliable as hell and is always the solution when one computer goes down for any reason
• "daria" terminal in a laptop's body - back in primary school I had a girl in my class with such name and was like that laptop: Problematic, irritating and useless
• Once I had "DeRP" which standed for "Debian Router Project"

The only exception is me server, "lassie-with-a-tankgun", which has no background behind her name
Also, though I remember their names without it since they are all unique enough, I do stick a name tags to my computers (see attachment)

[peer]

I use the brand name. Fortunately all my pc 's and laptop are different brands.
There is one exception: my main pc is just called 'debian'

[Bloom]

For desktops and notebooks, I use "translated" brand names. With two HP's, one is Happy and the other is Hope. A self-built desktop with an MSI motherboard is Missy, and a second one with a SilverStone case is called... Zilversteen (which is Silverstone in Dutch). My servers are characters from the Chucky horror movies universe. General server is Lizzy, the metadataserver for the LizardFS filesystem is Ray, the shadow metadataserver is called Shadow, the chunckservers are called Chucky01, -02, -03,... and so on. When I still had a RAID-5 system, the server for that was called Mother and all the clients were geven girl's and women's names.
A lot is possible: the only limit is your fantasy.

[Uptorn]

I name everything but am careful not to use logic necessarily becoming alphanumeric gibberish. Maybe theme, maybe association, maybe purpose. There are patterns. What are we naming?

I find that abstract names are best as the role of the system might change throughout its lifetime. What was once a NAS might be pressed into hosting and such. Ideal schemes also avoid borrowing names from a finite pool. I wonder about Debian using Toy Story characters, but Pixar keeps expanding the Toy Story universe so there's plenty left yet for codenames.

I have been a bit uncreative in the past, naming a BOINC cluster simply Node-01, Node-02, Node-03, etc. But the more memorable names are those that don't require you go and physically check printed nametags before SSH'ing into a target.

My personal computers have received names of sci-fi locales ever since my first ever PC. And, as I exhaust sci-fi that I have any affinity for, I'm feeling it's time to refresh my strategy. So I'm just looking for inspiration.

For desktops and notebooks, I use "translated" brand names. With two HP's, one is Happy and the other is Hope. A self-built desktop with an MSI motherboard is Missy, and a second one with a SilverStone case is called... Zilversteen (which is Silverstone in Dutch). My servers are characters from the Chucky horror movies universe. General server is Lizzy, the metadataserver for the LizardFS filesystem is Ray, the shadow metadataserver is called Shadow, the chunckservers are called Chucky01, -02, -03,... and so on. When I still had a RAID-5 system, the server for that was called Mother and all the clients were geven girl's and women's names.
A lot is possible: the only limit is your fantasy.

That is clever. Inscribing the vendor into the name without actually doing so.

I used (like 2-3 years ago) to call computers by their board / OEM names: asrpc, ibm-x230, etc. - But one day I found it boring and unpractical - How to differ between 4 computers which share same board / are same OEM computer?
So I don't have any pattern in naming anymore, I've started to use nicknames (which have reasons behind them) instead
Some examples:

• "ambassador" since I travel with this computer nearly everywhere
• "last-resort" because it's reliable as hell and is always the solution when one computer goes down for any reason
• "daria" terminal in a laptop's body - back in primary school I had a girl in my class with such name and was like that laptop: Problematic, irritating and useless
• Once I had "DeRP" which standed for "Debian Router Project"

The only exception is me server, "lassie-with-a-tankgun", which has no background behind her name
Also, though I remember their names without it since they are all unique enough, I do stick a name tags to my computers (see attachment)

Portable systems are the best IMO and it's getting harder to find good mATX slim cases.

I like how you proudly label them in the physical. There are label makers that can be used to print out adhesive tags, which I would use if I were to do the same as they help make the tags look formal.

[Hetzer]

Portable systems are the best IMO and it's getting harder to find good mATX slim cases.

Yea, especially ones that have place for 3,5" HDD and a 5,25" DVD bay - both of which I need
If anyone would like to know, on the photo it's a Chieftec Flyer FN-03B

There are label makers that can be used to print out adhesive tags, which I would use if I were to do the same as they help make the tags look formal

I thought about the same, however I have too few machines for it to make any sense
So instead I have to be satisfied with CD marker and bunch o' sticky labels

[CwF]

I find that abstract names are best as the role of the system might change throughout its lifetime.

I'll start with this one. Exactly, in my world, are all generic Asgard like clones waiting for their personality. That comes in the form of a disk image, a qcow2.

The cows have full names when they exist as a file, on a storage disk that has a label of its own written on the physical disk. The full name is standardized so my 'herder.tk' program can manipulate them.
ARCH_DE_Domain-(release)_WWYY(-day)_type(backup,archive,backing,layer,dev,run).qcow2
like;
amd64_xfce_bastard-child-12-5_2408-5_dev.qcow2
disk_ext4_music_0000_run.qcow2
disk_ntfs_nlite_1601_archive.qcow2
w32_xppro_xpx8_2401_backup.qcow2
etc...
backups come directly from imaging a physical disk, archive are the trimmed and compressed backup, 0000_run are active vm's either an os or extra drive.

Since these can be a cow or a disk, the short name is the domain name and/or disk label.
Since these can be a backing for a layer, the layers have unique nick names that are a 'personality'
These personalities are function/task names suggesting their purpose.
The backing of these layers, and all OS images have all users with attention paid to match the friendly name with the numeric uid on all images. Note that we can renumber uid's and it's a pain. Create them intentionally! Specific configurations of a user are in a zip when moved to a layer. Only global stuff is in the backing.

When an OS image is bare metal capable then this 'personality' short name is written on the disk. These full monolithic images have link files for all existing hardware they may run on to apply friendly names to the network, so all desktops and users can have configured working networks without any tweaking on boot one.

So when I think about it, I don't name devices. Nothing I have is running where it was born. The flexibility of hardware agnosticism and excessive compartmentalization means any one user can exist on the network as multiple personalities with unique ip's for each. Data sets (disk_*.qcow2) can be on/off and moved dynamically. Think multi-user qubes like, but not.

Some common practices don't mix well, like out of tree drivers. They are relegated to layers only with vfio magic. This all is vm server centric thinking. In this way any 'front-end' that I'm actually working with is independent and does not determine all I can do. Technically, the system I'm typing on right now doesn't even have a browser.

Overall, the personalities are never lost. Everything else can change.

[NFT5]

Love the originality and creativity.

I like order but even the original limiting to 8 characters has slipped a bit and then some devices insist on only being named what they call themselves.

GATEWAY 10.1.1.1
MAINSERV 10.1.1.10
FREEDOMBOX 10.1.1.11
PIHOLE 10.1.1.20
HP15NOTE 10.1.1.70
HP15NOTEWIFI 10.1.1.75
LENOVO15 10.1.1.80
LENOVO15WIFI 10.1.1.85
CARBONX1 10.1.1.90
CARBONX1WIFI 10.1.1.95
MAINDESK 10.1.1.100
MAINDESKFX 10.1.1.101
MDXPVM 10.1.1.106
MDWIN7VM 10.1.1.107
MDXPVM1 10.1.1.108
SHOPDESK 10.1.1.110
SDWIN7VM 10.1.1.111
PAINTDESK 10.1.1.120
PDWIN7VM 10.1.1.121
SDMEDIA 10.1.1.130
TVMEDIA 10.1.1.140
MOTOROLA-LI 10.1.1.145
LGQ6 10.1.1.155
Galaxy-J5-Pro 10.1.1.165
PIXEL-7A 10.1.1.175
Galaxy-Tab-A 10.1.1.195
PHTV55 10.1.1.215
DEV09A0A8 10.1.1.250

[Organic_Marble]

I name them after spaceships, real and fictional.

Atlantis
Slower Than Infinity
Pathfinder

etc

[Delobian]

Personally, I follow a logical approach based on the function, location, and sometimes the owner of the device. This helps in quickly identifying and managing them, whether it's a compute cluster, homelab setup, or part of a larger deployment.

For example, I might use a combination of abbreviations for the function (like "web" for web servers), followed by a numerical identifier or a location indicator.

-----------------------------------
Délobian - [moderator removed]

[wizard10000]

For me that would depend on whether the device is accessible from the internet. Mine are not, so I use wizard-server, wizard-tablet, wizard-laptop and wizard-desktop (yes, I have one of each).

If I had internet-facing machines I'd be naming them differently, as IMO best practice is for the hostname to *not* reflect the machine's function.

[eor2004]

If I had internet-facing machines I'd be naming them differently, as IMO best practice is for the hostname to *not* reflect the machine's function.

I like that, keeping your internet connected devices in incognito mode, I may start doing that in the future!

[Uptorn]

I like that, keeping your internet connected devices in incognito mode, I may start doing that in the future!

Deliberate misdirection is also viable. When enabling wireless radios on routers, it is good practice to supply a SSID indicating a brand and model for some other equipment than what you actually own and operate.

[steve_v]

Long-lived personal machines (usually with ship of theseus hardware) tend to get deathmetal themed names, or various terms for misery and suffering from a range of cultures and mythologies.
... Otherwise I use whatever word is most prominent on the motherboard or case, or (if I'm trying to be halfway professional) a boring and logical description of purpose.

When enabling wireless radios on routers, it is good practice to supply a SSID indicating a brand and model for some other equipment than what you actually own and operate.

What, actual off-the-shelf wireless gear with a recognisable brand? What wizardry is this?

Random fun fact: I used to have a wireless AP and a big-ass omni strapped to my chimney, unencrypted and with the SSID "${local telco} free wireless"... At one point it routed to a transparent squid proxy that swapped all images out for a picture of Rick Astley, among other (mostly more deviant) things. It's quite fascinating what some people will get up to on a random wireless network.
TBH wifi is kinda boring now that WPA is a thing

[Uptorn]

Long-lived personal machines (usually with ship of theseus hardware) tend to get deathmetal themed names, or various terms for misery and suffering from a range of cultures and mythologies.

I cherish not having to migrate to entirely new hardware every two years like I used to do. Now I'm trying to break the habit of fresh installing Debian whenever there's a new stable. An old #deb cdrom: line in sources.list should be a point of pride.

[CwF]

An old #deb cdrom: line in sources.list should be a point of pride.

Code: Select all

$  cat /var/log/installer/lsb-release && cat /etc/debian_version
DISTRIB_ID=Debian
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Debian GNU/Linux installer"
DISTRIB_RELEASE="8 (jessie) - installer build 20150422+deb8u4"
X_INSTALLATION_MEDIUM=cdrom
bookworm/sid

Why is last line is /bookworm/sid ? Because...
If you were to poke around the intranet here you would find a 9.13 I think, a 10.x sole example I didn't really like 10, a few 11's and a few 12's, and floaters like this one I'm typing on. All from one single install.

[donald]

We do Generals and then Ancient cities. It is a lot of fun.

Backends
Miltiades = General
Hannibal = General
Attila = General
Nevsky = General Alexander Nevsky

Frontends
Athena = City Miltiades was from
Rome = City Hannibal conquered
Hun = Attila the Hun
Novgorod = Nevsky was the prince of.

Development:
A cluster uses an Italian vineyard: Chardonnay, Bruciato, Classico, Montalcino ...
Another uses Spaniard vineyards: Muralles, Plana, Reserva, Purgatori ...

The distinction lets you know where and exactly what you are working on.

Workstations:
Persons first name then last initial.
Same for admin but 'admin_' in front.
Very easy to find a workstation in LDAP.

From the TV series Pinky and the Brain, I have one machine named Pinky and the small form server next to it named The Brain.

Naming is a huge deal in a few places I've worked as it sets the 'culture' and 'tone', names tend to stay even after the employee leaves the company. So people tend to get excited when machines are coming in or a hardware deployment is going on. We also do not limit it to just the admins naming hardware, everyone gets to name something and humor in the expense of it is great. Someone named 3 machines Peanut, Butter, and Jelly named after the sandwich....those machines were named in 2007 I believe and have been upgraded to new hardware several times across the campus. Kind of funny.

[seizsys]

Being swiss, we name our company computers after cheese.
The website cheese.com delivers good names, we prefer short ones.

Customer computer names always contain the purchase year,
to make it obvious when it is time to replace/upgrade an outdated computer.

[sinterva]

When I get a new device I usually mix up some concept that I have obsessed over lately with either byte or ware.
My newest computer is Byterad, because I recently switched to Amd-radeon from nvidia.
The computer that used to be my main with nvidia I call Fireware, just because I was obsessed with Fire.
I also have ByteAce an old acer aspire one I have as a last resort backup pc with LMDM,
and Bytelap which is the laptop I take if I want to have a computer with me somewhere.