[retronet] Hostname conventions for RetroNet concentrators

[Grant Taylor]

On 09/09/2018 06:40 PM, John P. Willis via retronet wrote:
> Hello all,

Hi,

> It occurs to me that we need to have a discussion--at least among the 
> "de facto" core engineers, and possibly the blossoming RetroNet 
> community-at-large--about hostname conventions for RetroNet concentrators.

Okay.  Discussions are good.

> These are the servers (whether physical or virtual) to which RN 
> participants will connect to form the wider network, running the VPN 
> services and bridging software that DrScriptt has worked so diligently 
> to put together, and which are the engine for the whole thing.
> 
> I personally tend to like hostnames that convey things like:
> 
> * What the machine does (in this case, a concentrator)
> 
> * What service it belongs to (here, RetroNet)
> 
> * Possibly, location information (if this is needed)

I'm all for naming conventions, particularly when they make sense and 
are (relatively) easy to use.

> However, I'd like to get as much input as possible. The people 
> participating in this right now are likely to set the direction for 
> everything going forward, and as such, their opinions are of inestimable 
> value, especially at this stage.

Precedences can be annoying like that.

> Please reply to this thread with suggestions!

I agree that there should be some sort of naming convention used by 
RetroNet core infrastructure.  (I agree with what you have above.)  I do 
think that it is important to clearly state that we're talking about 
RetroNet equipment and NOT imposing any naming convention on members 
equipment.

That being said, members are free to take ideas from what we are doing 
in core and decide for themselves if they want to follow suit or not.

I would probably go from largest scope information to smallest scope 
information.

    <RetroNet><concentrator><location><iteration>.<domain>

I.e.:

    <rn><vpn><us><01>.<domain>

Or:

    rnvpnus01.core.retrocomp.net

What do you think of the broad idea?

I think there's room for discussion about the possible values and length 
of the specific fields.

As for <location>, I'm used to using IATA airport codes at $WORK.

It may seem rather presumptuous of us to think that we need something in 
multiple countries, but based on interest on TUHS, I KNOW that we have 
interested parties in multiple countries.  So we should allow for that now.



-- 
Grant. . . .
unix || die

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