I guess if you're running 5 servers and each one has 4 functions, more "interesting" naming schemes can work. But once you're dealing with more than a few machi

I guess if you're running 5 servers and each one has 4 functions, more "interesting" naming schemes can work. But once you're dealing with more than a few machines, functional names are necessary. When I see a machine's name in the logs, I really don't want to have to infer the machine's function by remembering whether "Zapdos" is a pokemon or a character from Star Wars. I want a name like "dc1-cluster5-rendernode057" that tells me what the machine does and/or where it sits on the network. Even with physical machines: if the function changes, the correct thing to do is re-name and re-image it, and not worry about the fact that the physical box is the same. Your physical maintenance records should be keyed by something like asset tag anyway.