naming conventions

[John Hale]

Going through some discussions on naming conventions, and
while I have a great deal of experience with this there is
always no perfect solution:

I would like some input on the following:

user names as part of system names?
physical location as part of system names?
arbitrary naming schemes?
How this impacts active directory if at all?

pro's and con's appreciated. If someone has a sample
naming convention document they could send, I can be
reached at (e-mail address removed) <the period is in the wrong
place..... transposed the . and the e>

Thanks.

 

[Cary Shultz [A.D. MVP]]

John,

I used to work in a 300+ user environment and used the user's name as the
computer name ( followed by 'WIN2000' or 'WINXP' or 'W2K' ). That worked
okay IF the users did not move around a lot ( essentially, have a pretty
'static' seat ). The problem was that the users moved around all the time
so this proved to be a bit burdensome. You really want to avoid having the
computer account named 'cshultz' if my user account is 'cshultz'.
CSHULTZWIN2000 would be better. One of the problems with this is that you
are limited to 15 characters.....

I like having a more specific naming convention. My current boss is adamant
about using the jack port as the computer name preceded by some sort of
locale. So, if we were sitting in the Roanoke office and the jack port were
156 and we were on the first floor the computer name would be ROA1-156. If
the jack port were 198 and we were on the second floor then the computer
name would be ROA2-198. This is pretty static and completely impervious to
users changing desks / positions. Probably a much more suitable naming
convention than having part of the user name as part of the computer name.
If people move around and you are adamant about maintaining this naming
convention then you are going to be spending a lot of time changing
computer account names. Probably not a good use of your time.

You might also want to consider - if applicable - some department designator
as well....So, to expound on my example above. If the computer is in the
Marketing department then the computer name might be ROAMKT1-156. This may
or may not be such a hot idea.

HTH,

Cary