Network Resources Naming Standards
Number: ENT-NET-021
Established for: State of Montana Information Technology Enterprise
Scott Darkenwald, Director
Department of Administration
Date: April 2002
Policy - Requirements
SCOPE
This policy applies to all state computer networks that reside on the inside of the state's Internet firewall. This policy does not apply to colleges and universities, the Commissioner of Higher Education Office, or public access computers in libraries.
PURPOSE
It is important that network names be standard and consistent. It is necessary to have naming standards so information created will be standardized and consistent from agency to agency.
The following acronyms will be used to identify agencies and to remain consistent with other automated directory services on the state network. These acronyms are to be used in naming objects and other items on the network.
| ADV |
Montana Advocacy Program |
| AGR |
Department of Agriculture |
| ART |
Montana Arts Council |
| BOE |
State Board of Education |
| BPE |
Board of Public Education |
| CHE |
Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education |
| DOC |
Department of Commerce |
| COR |
Department of Corrections |
| CPP |
Commissioner of Political Practices |
| DEQ |
Department of Environmental Quality |
| DLI |
Department of Labor and Industry |
| DMA |
Department of Military Affairs |
| DOA |
Department of Administration |
| DOJ |
Department of Justice |
| DOR |
Department of Revenue |
| FWP |
Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks |
| GOV |
Governor's Office |
| HCT |
Helena College of Technology |
| HHS |
Department of Public Health & Human Services |
| HIS |
Historical Society |
| JUD |
Judiciary |
| LEG |
Legislative Branch |
| LIV |
Department of Livestock |
| MDT |
Department of Transportation |
| MSL |
Montana State Library |
| DNR |
Department of Natural Resources & Conservation |
| OPI |
Office of Public Instruction |
| PSC |
Department of Public Service Regulation |
| SAO |
State Auditor's Office |
| SOS |
Secretary of State |
| STF |
Montana State Fund |
| USM |
University System |
Agency level organizational unit names consist of the pre-defined three letter acronyms listed above and will be updated as necessary.
Organizational unit names residing under agency level organizational units consist of a three-character description determined by the administrator of that organizational unit. For example, the agency organization LEG - Legislative Branch could name its organizational unit for the House of Representatives HOU.
Workstation names and domains must consist of 10-15 characters and are defined as follows:
a) the first three characters are the agency acronym listed above,
b) the next three or four characters represent the device's city or county location if the device is located outside of Helena (if located in Helena these characters can represent the location or the agency division), and
c) the last four to nine characters are a descriptor of the object.
This description could be a number or some other distinctive indicator and can use some or all of the last nine characters. For example, a server for the Department of Administration located in Helena could be named: DOAHLN001. Only alphanumeric characters may be used. Locations should use the following list of acronyms for the city in which they reside:
| Anaconda - ANA |
Forsyth - FOR |
Missoula - MSL |
| Baker - BAK |
Fort Benton - FTB |
Plentywood - PLW |
| Big Timber - BGT |
Glasgow - GLS |
Polson - POL |
| Billings - BIL |
Glendive - GLN |
Red Lodge - RDL |
| Boulder - BLD |
Great Falls - GTF |
Rocky Boy - RCK |
| Box Elder - BOX |
Hamilton - HAM |
Roundup - RND |
| Bozeman - BOZ |
Hardin - HAR |
Shelby - SHL |
| Butte - BTE |
Harlowton - HLW |
Sidney - SID |
| Chinook - CHK |
Havre - HAV |
St. Ignatius - STI |
| Choteau - CHT |
Helena - HLN |
Superior - SUP |
| Colstrip - CLS |
Jordan - JDN |
Thompson Falls - TFS |
| Columbia Falls - CFL |
Kalispell - KAL |
Townsend - TWN |
| Columbus - COL |
Lame Deer - LMD |
Virginia City - VIR |
| Conrad - CND |
Lewistown - LEW |
Warm Springs - WSP |
| Cut Bank - CTB |
Libby - LIB |
West Yellowstone - WYS |
| Deer Lodge - DRL |
Livingston - LIV |
Wolf Point - WPT |
| Dillon - DIL |
Malta - MLT |
|
| Drummond - DRU |
Miles City |
|
Locations may also use the county number (01 to 56) for the county in which they reside. For example, the Department of Revenue uses DORCOxx0xxxx to denote a PC located in a county office where CO designates county and xx is the two digit county number (using the three to four digits identified in #b) above), and 0xxxx is the five digit PAMS number assigned by the department.
Background - History on the creation of or changes to this policy
This policy was originally created by the NetWare Managers Group Policy Committee. It was then modified to include the migration to Microsoft NT/2000and Microsoft Exchange for electronic mail. It was distributed to the Information Technology Managers Council for comment prior to adoption. This policy was modified by ITSD to incorporate standardization of city and county descriptors.
Guidelines - Recommendations, not requirements
NetWare volume names in the NDS should follow suggested Novell standards. The system volume should be named SYS and other volumes should be named VOL1, VOL2, VOL3, etc. Alias and Directory Map names should be descriptive of the object they are representing. Users should be able to determine what the object is and where the object resides from its name. Print queue, printer, print server, jet direct printer, group, profile, and organizational role names in the NDS should follow the naming standards above for servers and domains.
References - Laws, rules, standard operating procedures and applicable policies
2-17-512, MCA; 2-17-534, MCA