Name Every Application Instance Consistently

This chapter explains why every Application Instance should be named according to a consistent, enterprise-wide convention.

Why Consistent Instance Names Matter

When Instances are named ad hoc, people cannot tell from a name which Application an Instance belongs to, which environment it is in, or how it differs from its siblings. Names like “server 2,” “the new prod,” or “test-old” cause mistakes during Deployments, incidents, and access requests, sometimes with serious consequences, such as testing against, or changing, the Production Instance by accident.

Establish an Instance Naming Convention

Establish an enterprise-wide naming convention for Application Instances, built from:

• The Application’s Semantic Identifier, so that every Instance is traceable to its Application.

• The IT Operating Environment Instance it is deployed to, such as development, User Acceptance Testing, or Production.

• A qualifier where needed, to distinguish multiple Instances in the same environment, such as a region or customer group.

For example, an order management Application with the Semantic Identifier APP-ORDERMGMT might have Instances named APP-ORDERMGMT.UAT, APP-ORDERMGMT.PROD.EAST, and APP-ORDERMGMT.PROD.WEST. The format shown is a common example that IF4IT recommends; enterprises can define their own, provided it is applied consistently.

Document and Share Instance Names

Record each Instance’s name in the Application Documentation and its per-Instance profile, and use the same name in monitoring, support, Deployment, and access management, so that the Instance is identified the same way everywhere. Publish the naming convention with the enterprise’s documentation standards.

Best Practice: Name Every Application Instance Consistently

It is a best practice to both establish and document the solution for identifying Instances: adopt an enterprise-wide naming convention built from the Application’s Semantic Identifier, the environment, and a qualifier where needed, and use each Instance’s name consistently everywhere it appears.

Benefits: Consistent names make every Instance instantly recognizable, reducing costly mistakes such as changing Production when a test Instance was intended. They also let monitoring, support, and access records for the same Instance be connected automatically.

Connections to Related IF4IT Practices and Inventories

The IT Operating Environments Best Practices addresses governing environment naming as an enterprise standard, with consistent names, abbreviations, and semantic identifiers. The Applications Inventory and Attributes describes the Semantic Identifier from which Instance names are built.