RFC247

Network Working Group Peggy Karp Request for Comments: #247 MITRE NIC 7688 12 October 1971 Categories: Policy, Telnet Related: #226, 236, 239, 233, 237 Obsoletes: #226

              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.

RFC #247

<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   ]

RFC #247 Attachment 1

      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

RFC #247 Attachment 2

              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.