Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.3 alpha 4/15/85; site cbosgd.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!mark
From: mark@cbosgd.UUCP (Mark Horton)
Newsgroups: net.news.config,net.news.sa
Subject: Re: Corrected AT&T Information Systems computer name changes
Message-ID: <1089@cbosgd.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 26-Apr-85 01:53:50 EST
Article-I.D.: cbosgd.1089
Posted: Fri Apr 26 01:53:50 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 27-Apr-85 04:21:36 EST
References: <634@ahuta.UUCP> <364@bu-cs.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Columbus, Oh
Lines: 32
Xref: watmath net.news.config:573 net.news.sa:110

In article <364@bu-cs.UUCP> todd@bu-cs.UUCP (Todd Cooper) writes:
>Is there any rhyme or reason behind the cryptic names that AT&T now
>has for their machines?

Yes, there is.  The first two letters are the AT&T site name, e.g.
IH is Indian Hill, MH is Murray Hill, CB is Columbus, etc.  (How they
come up with these codes I'll never know: LZ is Lincroft, AK is
Atlanta, IX is Indian Hill South, FJ is Freehold, etc.)  The next
few letters represent the group that owns the computer, OSG is the
Operating Systems Group, DK is Datakit, UX (which stands for "UNIX")
normally represents a computer center.  The final letter or digit
usually distinguishes among several machines on the project, thus
"4" in ihnp4, or "d" in cbosgd, both representing the 4th machine
that got named.

What seems to have happened is that AH (ATT IS, Holmdel)
has finally had their new building in Morristown completed, and
in the move, their machines were renamed from ah* to mt*.  Roughly.

If this naming convention seems strange (in that it doesn't begin
site names with "att" or "bl"), remember that this convention has
been in use since before the UUCP net was started in the late 70's.
In the early days of UUCP, there were only AT&T sites, it never
occurred to anyone that any sites outside AT&T would be using the
same naming space.  In fact, much of AT&T still seems unaware that
the outside world exists.

You should have seen the fun when South Plainfield (site code HP)
got a machine on Usenet, called hpuxa!  Hewlett Packard was not
impressed.  Fortunately, they have renamed the site spuxa.

	Mark Horton