What is the best name for an Exchange server?

[outonalimb]

This may sound like a daft question as I could call my Exchange server almost anything but is there an industry standard naming convention for naming Exchange servers?

For example, would it be a good idea to call it MAIL? That way it would appear as mail.acme.local in AD and DNS. Or could I call it something else and refer to it as MAIL just in DNS?

Any suggestions would be of great help...

Regards,

 

[terry712]

this is a pure policy choice

personally i hate naming servers sensibly by name of location , or business or such like as they change

i prefer to name servers by gods names or whiskies or such like
as you say it can be alias'd in dns anyway


ie finance_serv1 or pers-server or persserver
to me sucks

i like medusa , allah , ganesha , lagavulin , oban , etc

 

[comtec17]

As Terry stated, the choice is yours. I have seen many shops and some are names of products, rivers, birds, etc.

Some more unique names for business I have seen will have 3 digits for the city the server is located in, then 3 digits for purpose, and then 2 digits for number of server. For example, I have an 1 exchange server in atlanta; ATLEXC01

 

[58sniper]

I remember reading somewhere that underscores are not recommended. We use hyphens all the time. Our server names indicate OS version and server role, as in 2003-dc or 2003-ex.

Pat Richard, MCSE(2) MCSA:Messaging, CNA(2)

 

[dennisbbb]

I like naming it the way it is. Easy for the next guy in case you quit.

mail.yourdomain.com
dns.yourdomain.com
webserver.yourdomain.com

if you have multiple,

mail1.yourdomain.com
dns2.yourdomain.com
webserver3.yourdomain.com

 

[bytehd]

groupwise

George Walkey
Senior Geek in charge

http://www.insyncva.com

 

[Zelandakh]

Its got to be characters from Star Trek or Star Wars. Or Hobbits. I like the whisky one - "Oh no, Oban's gone down badly, I'll be out of contact for 3 hours".

You could try obscure and call your servers Jenna, Ron, Traci...

 

[58sniper]

We used to use names of planets.

Pat Richard, MCSE(2) MCSA:Messaging, CNA(2)

 

[scottew]

Since we are in Florida, we use all weather related names like Hurricane, Lightning, Thunder, etc.

 

[skialta]

I'm with Zelandakh and the more obscure names...

 

[dkediger]

For a business server, I've always recommended to keep it generic and presentable.

You never know where the server name might show up in a communication (email header, UNC path, etc.) and how the viewer will interpret it.

 

[strongm]

>how the viewer will interpret it.

Pah - these will be the same people who think that ties are the most important piece of clothing in a man's wardrobe

 

[WhoKilledKenny]

its obvious.... you name your server Kenny. That way when it crashes you can say "WHOKILLEDKENNY

 

[NickFerrar]

Internally our naming convention is location+type+number (truncated). Externally though you want something a little more friendly for OWA etc. (we use "webmail" and "mobile"). I cringe everytime I see servers named geekily

 

[chester27]

Am I write in saying that when giving an Exchange server a name, site replication is improved by keeping the names as close alphabetically as possible? We have used local villages as it makes it difficult to know what the server does, security and all!!!

 

[Marcs41]

the alphabet plays no role in site replication improvement at all!

Marc
_{If 'something' 'somewhere' gives 'some' error, expect random guesses or no replies at all.
Free Tip: The F1 Key does NOT destroy your PC!}

 

[outonalimb]

Okay guys. Thanks for your input. After all the discussion, I think i'll name the server MAIL after all! I suppose there may be some security issues regarding the name but the server sits behind a NAT firewall and isn't exposed to the internet via a public IP address.

Once again, thanks guys.