Rackstamp, data center labeling field guide

SOURCE NOTE / S65

RFC 1178 (FYI 5): Choosing a Name for Your Computer

D. Libes, Integrated Systems Group, NIST, August 1990. Establishes the long-standing argument that a computer name works best as an arbitrary tag rather than a description, because a name chosen from a machine’s current role does not stay appropriate. It is about host names rather than physical position identifiers, and states no requirement for either.

SOURCE CHECK / SEP 12, 2026

Read it in context.

D. Libes, Integrated Systems Group, NIST, August 1990. Establishes the long-standing argument that a computer name works best as an arbitrary tag rather than a description, because a name chosen from a machine’s current role does not stay appropriate. It is about host names rather than physical position identifiers, and states no requirement for either.

The linked guide explains how this source informs its topic. Check the document’s scope and the edition adopted by your project before applying it. A publisher overview or product guide does not reproduce the full requirements of a standard.

Read the library’s edition and applicability notes.

What this source establishes

Establishes the argument that names encoding a current role go stale. It does not establish anything about physical labeling.

Review date: 2026-09-16. This note describes the source scope; it is not a project approval.

Used in these guides

01Naming conventionsWe do not have a naming convention