INFORMATIONAL

Network Working Group D. Libes Request for Comments: 1178 Integrated Systems Group/NIST FYI: 5 August 1990 Choosing a Name for Your Computer Status 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 management Introduction 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]

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RFC 1178 Name Your Computer August 1990 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.gov Libes [Page 8]