How to Name Your Server

If you've ever worked on a team that shares a file server, you know the importance of naming computers. Especially on local area networks where multiple servers are available. You need to have a way to tell them apart. Otherwise we'd be referring to the computers as "that box".

Server naming tends to be either functional (like PHOTOSTORE1 or Backup3) or whimsical (Ophelia and Hamlet). Production servers seem to take on a personality after a while, either because of the type of files on the box or because of the server's behavior. Does a temperamental computer called Tempest take on the personality associated with the name? I worked on a team where the servers were named after inventors and the Edison and Tesla machines were constantly battling each other just like their namesakes.

I have seen numerous approaches to server naming over my 18 years in the Internet business. Some have been named after Shakespeare characters; Jachimo, Othello and Roderigo. Other times it became all too clear that I was working with geeks when the servers were either named after Star Trek (Kirk, Sulu, Picard) or Monty Python (Throatwobbler, Gilliam, DeadParrot).

Are people who name their servers after Disney fairies just too cute to work with? Are people who name their servers after gangsters ultimately corrupt? When you meet a new team, you can tell a lot about them by how they name their boxes.

I sometimes wish I had 100 servers to name. Or better yet, maybe I could develop a special area of consulting. Yea, I could be a professional server namer. Can I get paid for that? I could come up with a million naming themes. Servers named after action movies. Nine servers named after planets. Seven small server named after dwarves. Call me and I'll solve all your server naming problems.