Re: Server naming conventions

["Michael J. Wheeler" <mwheeler () PITTSTATE EDU>]

I wonder if non-edible nuts were considered. For instance: wing(nut), 
lug(nut), and cage(nut).

Also, after "left" and "right" were used, you could always use "deez". :)

--
Michael J. Wheeler
Assistant Director, Systems and Networking
Pittsburg State University
Phone:  620-235-4610
E-mail: mwheeler () pittstate edu

On 2/11/2010 7:51 AM, Sherry Horeanopoulos wrote:
> Thank you all – you have provided me and my officemates with a
> sidesplitting morning. I’d give my cashew stash to be a part of the
> .nuts network!
>
> *From:* The EDUCAUSE Security Constituent Group Listserv
> [mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU] *On Behalf Of *Woodruff, Daniel
> *Sent:* Thursday, February 11, 2010 8:46 AM
> *To:* SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
> *Subject:* Re: [SECURITY] Server naming conventions
>
> This has been a fantastic thread, thanks for all the input and creative
> naming scheme ideas.
>
> With new servers hosted by University IT here, the Windows Systems group
> has settled on the ‘its-service-p##’ type style, where ‘p’ stands for
> production, ‘t’ would be test, etc. It seems some other institutions do
> similar and even add more information such as location, and you brought
> up a good point about a nmap scan can easily enumerate the services on a
> box, so I feel more comfortable with that now. And segmenting DNS into
> different zones is a great idea too.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dan Woodruff
>
> University IT Security and Policy
>
> University of Rochester
>
> Woodruff, Daniel wrote:
>
> >  What kinds of naming conventions do everyone follow when building new
>
> >  servers?
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >  Currently, our Windows hosts are named following the pattern‘its-w2ks#’
>
> >  or similar, where the # is the next in the sequence, and the names are
>
> >  published in DNS. What are the potential drawbacks or using a scheme
>
> >  like this? Do you think it is any better or worse from a security
>
> >  perspective than using something like‘its-oracle-1’  which has the
>
> >  service right in the name? We’re concerned about disclosing the purpose
>
> >  of the machine via its name, and are trying to get an idea of what other
>
> >  schools do for their machines. Thanks in advance.
>
>
>
> For some servers, which are for internal ITS use only, there is really
>
> no naming convention in place. Mythological figures and horrible puns
>
> tend to be the norm.
>
>
>
> For user-facing servers, the DNS name generally reflects the purpose or
>
> service of the server. For example, our domain controllers are named
>
> "ad-canisius"  and"ad-canisius2", our Exchange mail stores are"store01"
>
> and"store02", etc. There's probably a slight risk of revealing
>
> information by putting a service right in the name, but frankly, it's no
>
> more information than a simple nmap fingerprinting scan would be likely
>
> to provide.
>
>
>
> --
>
> Matt Gracie                                                (716) 888-8378
>
> Information Security Administrator    [log in to unmask]  
> <http://listserv.educause.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?LOGON=A2%3Dind1002%26L%3DSECURITY%26D%3D0%26P%3D45691>
>
> Canisius College ITS                              Buffalo, NY
>
> http://www2.canisius.edu/~graciem/graciem_public_key.gpg  <http://www2.canisius.edu/%7Egraciem/graciem_public_key.gpg>