On 1/25/2011 8:15 PM, Gary Steers wrote:
James makes a good point...
Pick a scheme which:
1. Uses simple memorable names.
2. Makes business sense to you.
3. You know how to manage (database, publication, updates, etc.
If I had to weight these criteria, I would weight 3 most heavily.
The other key thing to bear in mind is consistency and scalability... (i.e.
design a scope that can grow with your network and needs
{interface/server}.{router/vmhost}.{city}.{country}.example.net
The other thing that doesn't really have any defined list is {city}, Some
people prefer 2 letter, some 3 letter, some people use airport codes etc..
The naming schemes that I have developed that needed to be upgraded in
the past have almost always bumped up against scale, so build in much
larger scale than you ever think that you will need from the beginning.
You have X devices now in Y locations, but your naming scheme should
scale to X^Z devices in Y^Z locations.
I agree that for network gear, this is is a good place to start
(slightly simplified here from above):
{interface}.{host}.{location}.example.net
- Location
I personally prefer UN LOCODEs for country / city. The UN already
went to the trouble of giving a unique code to every country/city. Why
do I use them? LON makes perfect sense as London, England... until you
have devices in London, KY and London, OH (the LOCODES for these Londons
are GB LON, US LDN, US LOZ). In my opinion, airport codes (while
certainly unique) work well in some locales and not so well in others
(so, I don't use them, YMMV).
- Host
I prefer, like many do, an acronym denoting the primary function of
the device. ES (edge switch), AR (access router), CR (core router),
etc... whatever your internal terminology is. If you will *ever* have
more than 10 of a device anywhere, then I would recommend that you
number out of double digits (more than 100, then out of triple
digits...). That way in a sorted list AR03 will be right between AR02
and AR04, where you expect it to be, instead of between AR29 and AR30.
Standardizing on number length also limits ambiguity in pressure
situations and/or over noisy or less reliable communication channels.
- Interface
Port names vary on gear from different vendors. {interface type} -
{selector}* ... where selector repeats ordered from highest to lowest
level of granularity (e.g. rack/slot/module/port) is what I use. You
should use whatever makes sense to you. Are interface speeds or vlans
important to your infrastructure? If so, then include them where
appropriate. Unless you have exactly the same gear everywhere, you are
going to have to be flexible here.
I recommend documenting your naming standard and getting buy in across
your organization before you put it into place. By giving names to
these devices/interfaces at all, you are exposing information to the
world. What makes perfect sense to engineering and support may give
security, management, and/or marketing heart palpitations.
Just my $0.02 (probably overvalued).
Hope that helps!
G
---
Gary Steers
Sharedband NOC/3rd Line Support
Sharedband
UK: +44 (0)1473 287207
US: +1 206 420 0240
E: gary.ste...@sharedband.com
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-----Original Message-----
From: Cutler James R [mailto:james.cut...@consultant.com]
Sent: 25 January 2011 22:41
To: nanog group
Subject: Re: Network Naming
On Jan 25, 2011, at 3:50 PM, Nick Olsen wrote:
Whats the rule of thumb for naming gear these days
(routers,switches...etc). Or is there one?
Pick a scheme which:
1. Uses simple memorable names.
2. Makes business sense to you.
3. You know how to manage (database, publication, updates, etc.
If I had to weight these criteria, I would weight 3 most heavily.
James R. Cutler
james.cut...@consultant.com
