Proferred Set of Standard Host Names

In RFC #226, BBN's TENEX list of Host names was set up as a strawman set of standard Host names. Comments received since then (an RFC actually generated comments!!!) have influenced me to propose the following general rules for forming Host names.

The Host names will be 8 characters in length. The general form is

                     <site>  '-'  <machine>

<site> will be at most 4 characters, formed as follows:

(a) Use the keyword in the site name, if not more than

four characters, e.g., NASA Ames, Case Western

Reserve. ---- ----

(b) Use the standard acronym, if not more than four

characters, e.g., UCLA, RADC, NBS.

(c) If a standard abbreviation exists, use it, e.g., Ill.

(d) If none of the above apply, use the first four letters

in the site name, e.g., Burr, Mitr, Harv.

(e) If none of the above is acceptable to the site, the

technical liaison should select the site mnemonic.

<machine> will be at most 4 characters of the form <mfg. #> <designator>.
Examples of mfg. # are:

             IBM 360             2 digit model number
             IBM 370             3 digit model number
             PDP                 1 - 2 digit model number
             Burroughs           4 digits
             CDC                 4 digits
             etc.

<designator> will be used when more than one machine of the same type is located at a site (e.g., 2 PDP-10s at MIT, at SRI, and at BBN).

Limiting <machine> to 4 characters does not permit distinctions to be made between machines with 4 digit mfg. #s. I expect the situation will be handled in an ad hoc manner by the NIC if it arises.

TIPs are identified as 'TIP' rather than by '316'. If a Host is not to be permanently addressable, the machine is identified as 'TEST'.

A list of Host names, formed according to these rules, is attached. Alternate Host names should be provided, as suggested by Jon Postel (RFC #236). RFC's 206, 233, and 236 present lists with 4-character alternate names. The Technical Liaison should select the alternate name for his site and communicate the selection to the NIC.

The preceding rules and the attached list of Host names are subject to the approval of the NWG. Hereafter, the list will be generated and maintained by the NIC in cooperation with the Technical Liaison at each site, as suggested in RFC #237. Comments should be addressed to Dick Watson.

[ This RFC was put into machine readable form for entry ]

[ into the online RFC archives by BBN Corp. under the ]

[ direction of Alex McKenzie. 12/96 ]

          NETWORK ADDRESS                 STANDARD NAME
          ---------------                 -------------
                   1                      UCLA-7
                  65                      UCLA-91
                   2                      SRI-10NI
                  66                      SRI-10AI
                   3                      UCSB-75
                   4                      UTAH-10
                   5                      BBN-516
                  69                      BBN-10A
                 133                      BBN-10B
                   6                      MIT-645
                  70                      MIT-10DM
                 134                      MIT-10AI
                   7                      RAND-65
                  71                      RAND-10
                   8                      SDC-75
                   9                      HARV-10
                  73                      HARV-1
                 137                      HARV-11
                  10                      LL-67
                  74                      LL-TX2
                 138                      LL-TSP
                  11                      SAIL-10
                  12                      ILL-11
                  76                      ILL-6500
                  13                      CASE-10
                  14                      CMU-10
                  15                      BURR-6500
                  79                      BURR-TEST
                  16                      AMES-67
                 144                      AMES-TIP
                 145                      MITR-TIP
                  18                      RADC-645
                 146                      RADC-TIP
                  19                      NBS-11
                 147                      NBS-TIP
                 148                      ETAC-TIP
                  21                      TINK-418
                  22                      MCCL-418
                  23                      USC-44
                 151                      USC-TIP
                 152                      GWC-TIP
                  25                      NCAR-7600
                 153                      NCAR-TIP
                 158                      BBNX-TEST
                  An Implementation Scheme

If the standard Host names are formed according to the proposed rules, the following implementation scheme, suggested by Steve Crocker, can be used.

Map <site> into an 8-bit number, S and map <machine> into an 8-bit number, M,
where

S + M = Network Address.

S and M can be selected such that specification of <site> alone could cause a default to the "primary" Host at the site. Note that this scheme depends on a unique <site> designator for each IMP.

Some examples:

If the "primary" Host at UCLA is the 91, let
        UCLA  -> S = X'41'
           7  -> M = X'40'
          91  -> M = X'00'
then for
        UCLA-7, S + M = X'01' = 1 base 10
        UCLA-91,S + M = X'41' = 65 base 10

and

UCLA alone = X'41' = 65 base 10

If the primary Host at BBN is TENEX System A, let
        BBN  ->  S = X'45'
        516  ->  M = X'40'
        10A  ->  M = X'00'
        10B  ->  M = X'C0'
then for
        BBN-516, S + M = X'05' = 5 base 10
        BBN-10A, S + M = X'45' = 69 base 10
        BBN-10B, S + M = X'85' = 133 base 10

and

BBN alone = X'45' = 69 base 10

The primary Host for each IMP would be designated by the

site and such information disseminated by the NIC.