A naming convention is a way to give names to devices on a network so they are descriptive or easier to type into a connection string. In college I was a network administrator for the “spirits” lab where the various terminals had names like “vodka”, “rum”, etc. I did not start this, but did later modify it in another environment so that certain types of alcoholic beverages referred to a certain type of item e.g. switches were beers, servers were wines, etc.
Later at my first job out of college I was tasked with setting up a public key infrastructure. This included installing and configuring several servers. For this I took the first two characters of the server’s role, (e.g. “di” for directory server and “ca” for certificate authority), and chose a word that started with those characters. As an example two of the directory servers had the names “dirk” and “diggler”, (a reference to the move Boogie Nights). That rose some eyebrows at work, but thankfully thinking back upon it we never had to name the servers directly in any presentations to management, so it was a joke kept to the system administrators.
With the number of devices on the home network growing, (especially with home automation devices), a naming convention was desired that could identify what a device was, where it was, and be easy to remember. The result is not as creative as a theme, but is efficient.
The main goals for a naming convention are:
- Make it easy to identify and connect to systems and devices on the network
- Provide names for systems and devices that broadcast data or services on the network
- Be able to identify the function and (if not mobile) the location of the system or device
These are somewhat different goals, so there is no hard rule on what something is named. The fallback standard is, however, as follows:
- A two-character identifier of the device
- A one-character identifier of the floor on which it is located
- A one-character identifier of the location on the floor in which it is placed
- At least one digit in case multiple devices of the same type are located in the same area
Device Identifiers
The following table lists the current device identifiers:
| ID | Description |
| AD | General Android Device |
| AE | Amazon Echo |
| AL | General Apple Device |
| AP | Wireless Access Point |
| AS | Automation Switch such as an electrical outlet |
| AV | Audio / Video Receiver |
| BD | Blu-Ray Disk Player |
| CA | Camera |
| DR | Door Lock/Controller |
| FA | Fan |
| GH | Google Home |
| HV | HVAC Controller/Device |
| IR | Irrigation Controller/Device |
| LB | Light Bulb/String |
| LD | General Linux Device |
| LS | Linux Server |
| MI | Microphone (if not part of something else like an Amazon Echo) |
| MP | Media Player |
| MS | Manual Switch such as a light switch |
| PC | General computer |
| PR | Printer (may also do scanning, copying, etc.) |
| RC | Remote Control (when dealing with controlling devices in a certain area) |
| RT | Router/Firewall |
| SN | Sensor such as a water detector/alarm/weather station |
| SP | Speaker (if not part of something else like a camera) |
| SW | Network Switch |
| TV | Television / Display |
| UR | unRAID Server |
| VC | Video Capture Device |
| WD | General Windows Device |
| WS | Windows Server |
Floor Identifiers
The location for the network is two stories plus an attic and a basement. Floors follow US naming conventions where the ground floor is called the first floor. There are also some devices are located outside. The following table lists all the “floor” identifiers defined:
| ID | Description |
| 1 | First Floor (Ground) |
| 2 | Second Floor |
| A | Attic |
| B | Basement |
| E | East (outside right if looking North) |
| G | Garage |
| N | North (outside front) |
| R | Roof |
| S | South (outside rear) |
| VM | Virtual Machine |
| W | West (outside left if looking North) |
Location Identifiers
Location identifiers are very arbitrary and have different meanings based on the floor identifier. The following table lists the location identifiers defined sorted by their associated floor identifiers:
| Floor | ID | Description |
| 1 | B | Bathroom |
| 1 | C | Coat Closet |
| 1 | D | Dining Room |
| 1 | F | Foyer |
| 1 | G | Great Room |
| 1 | H | Hallway |
| 1 | K | Kitchen |
| 1 | L | Laundry Room |
| 1 | M | Music Room |
| 1 | S | Shoe Closet |
| 2 | B | Bathroom |
| 2 | E | East Bedroom/Closet (looking North) |
| 2 | H | Hallway |
| 2 | M | Master Bedroom/Bathroom/Closets |
| 2 | N | Nook |
| 2 | S | Study/Closet |
| 2 | W | West Bedroom/Closet (looking North) |
| A | G | General Area |
| B | B | Bathroom |
| B | G | General Area |
| B | K | Kitchen |
| B | L | Living Room |
| B | R | Rack (main communication hub area) |
| B | U | Unfinished Area |
| B | W | Workout Area |
| E | G | Ground |
| E | W | Wall |
| G | G | General Area |
| N | G | Ground |
| N | P | Porch |
| N | W | Wall |
| R | B | Bottom Roof |
| R | T | Top Roof |
| S | G | Ground |
| S | O | Overhang |
| S | P | Patio |
| S | V | (Vegetable) Garden |
| S | W | Wall |
| W | G | Ground |
| W | W | Wall |
Exceptions
Some devices show their names when browsing the network, connected to via a technology like Bluetooth, are mobile or use a virtual name when more than one system can provide the same service. In these cases a different name may be chosen. In this case all Windows desktop computers, mobile Windows devices like laptops, Android phones / tablets, iOS phones / tablets, and virtual destinations do not follow the above naming convention. A non-easily-mobile device such as a desktop or server or console may have a name like KARYLPC or STEINSERVER or SHIELDGREATROOM. A more mobile device like a laptop or tablet or phone may have a name that identifies the device and/or primary user like KarylHPEliteBookFolioG1 or KarylGalaxyTabS or KarylGalaxyS6. A virtual IP may be assigned a name like “syslog” that may be used in configurations no matter which physical or virtual server is responding.