A question nearly as cliched as "name my puppy"

April 13, 2011 9:09 AM

I'm looking for suggestions for naming structures of computers and network devices on my home network. The thing is, I want them to be geeky and yet also indirectly descriptive...

So, I'm moving house and taking the opportunity to completely rework the home network.

I really don't want to end up with device names like NAS1 or SodiumsLaptop and I don't want to end up with completely irrelevant names like Bert and Ernie.

What I would like would be names that are both geeky and have some connection to what the device does. For example, I have a small but surprisingly powerful little netbook that is currently called Belkar (the halfling git from Order Of The Stick) and a NAS unit that is named KeeperAnnals (after the repository of legend in the Thief series).

But I'd really like to name the devices solely from one Universe, so I'm asking you guys for suggestions...

I need names for:

• 2 loud workhorse desktop machines (mine and the wife's)
• A small and surprisingly powerful netbook (Belkar)
• A 'proper' laptop that is rarely used for much
• A NAS box
• A second NAS that is basically just a clone of the first, but exiled to the the garage
• A PS3
• and the network itself

Anyone any thoughts or either actual names or the universe we can plunder?

posted by sodium lights the horizon to Computers & Internet (42 answers total)

Hmm, spaceships from Alien universe?

Desktops = Nostromo/Sulaco
Netbook = Dropship
Laptop = Dropship 2
NAS = Hadley's Hope
Second NAS = Atmosphere Processor
PS3 = Narcissus?
Network itself = LV426
posted by Brainy at 9:12 AM on April 13, 2011

I have a partial Battlestar Galactica theme to my home network..

Here are some suggestions from BSG for you (they may not exactly fit, but if you are a BSG fan, you could muck with them):

2 workhorse machines: Adama and Roslin
Small and surprisingly powerful netbook: Cally
Proper Laptop that is not used for much: Zarek
NAS: Boomer
Second NAS that is basically a clone but exiled to the brig: Athena
PS3: Six
Network itself: Galactica

How's that?
posted by jozxyqk at 9:20 AM on April 13, 2011 [2 favorites]

named my network after character's in William Gibson's books.
PCs: Neuromancer, Wintermute, Molly Millions, The Gentleman Loser,
Continuity, router is Sensenet, main media server is Gibson.
posted by cosmicbandito at 9:21 AM on April 13, 2011

Desktops: Adama, Tigh
Netbook: Starbuck
Laptop: Apollo
NAS: Boomer
Second NAS: Athena
PS3: Baltar
Network itself: Galactica

On preview: or what jozxyqk said.
posted by milk white peacock at 9:23 AM on April 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

The "NAS and clone" options were all-too-clear, weren't they, milk white peacock? :)
posted by jozxyqk at 9:25 AM on April 13, 2011

Choose your own names from this list, appropriate to the Ship type.

2 loud workhorse desktop machines (mine and the wife's) - GSVs
A small and surprisingly powerful netbook (Belkar) - GCU
A 'proper' laptop that is rarely used for much - ROU
A NAS box - Masaq
A second NAS that is basically just a clone of the first, but exiled to the the garage - Vavatch
A PS3 - (d)ROU/VFP
and the network itself - The Culture
posted by EndsOfInvention at 9:27 AM on April 13, 2011 [4 favorites]

I name mine after ghosts. So I have Casper, Boo, Bogle, Polter & Zeit (external drives to Geist), etc.
posted by cjorgensen at 9:28 AM on April 13, 2011

I used to use muppet names.

Desktops: Kermit, Fozzie
Netbook: Rizzo
Laptop: Rowlf
NAS: Bunsen
Second NAS: Beaker
PS3: Gonzo
Network: ElectricMayhem

Pity there's no obvious opportunity to use the Statler/Waldorf combo.
posted by schmod at 9:30 AM on April 13, 2011

2 loud workhorse desktop machines: Ford and Arthur
A small and surprisingly powerful netbook: The Guide
A 'proper' laptop that is rarely used for much: Marvin
A NAS box: Trillian
A second NAS that is basically just a clone of the first, but exiled to the the garage: Fenchurch
A PS3: Zaphod
and the network itself: Deep Thought
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:31 AM on April 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

Another suggestion:

2 workhorse machines: Hilly and Holly
Small and surprisingly powerful netbook: Kochanski
Proper Laptop that is not used for much: Cat
NAS: Ace
Second NAS: Rimmer
PS3: Lister
Network itself: Red Dwarf
posted by jozxyqk at 9:32 AM on April 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

desktops -> trantor/terminus
netbook -> fs far star
laptop -> fs bright star (this one I had to look up)
nas -> foundation
nas 2 -> second foundation
ps3 -> the mule
network -> hyperspace
posted by NormieP at 9:33 AM on April 13, 2011

The ancient world is pretty ripe for geekiness of a different kind.

Name the NASs after ancient libraries. I called mine Ashurbanipal (because Alexandria was too obvious).

The desktops are clearly Augustus and Julius.

Small and surprisingly powerful netbook? Cleopatra

PS3 - Circus Maximus

Since I appear to have moved into the Roman Empire with this, perhaps the NAS should be called "The Forum" and the network should be called Imperium.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 9:34 AM on April 13, 2011

Best answer: 2 loud workhorse desktop machines (mine and the wife's) - Wash & Zoe
A small and surprisingly powerful netbook (Belkar) - River
A 'proper' laptop that is rarely used for much - Book (too harsh?)
A NAS box - Mal
A second NAS that is basically just a clone of the first, but exiled to the the garage - Jayne
A PS3 - probably should be Simon (or Kaylee or Inara), but I'd probably go with Badger because I'm weird like that
and the network itself - The Verse
posted by specialagentwebb at 9:34 AM on April 13, 2011 [3 favorites]

We use names from Invader Zim: Zim, Gaz, Tak, Dib, Gir and I think the printer is called Voot Runner. Oh, and my iPhone is Gameslave2.
posted by thejanna at 9:34 AM on April 13, 2011

Alternatively, use the name of fictional AIs and robots. Preferably insane ones:

Desktops: HAL, GlaDOS
Netbook: R2, WALL-E (EVE if it's a mac)
Laptop: 3PO, Dot Matrix, or Marvin.
NAS: Boomer
Second NAS: Athena
PS3: Bender
Network: Skynet
posted by schmod at 9:37 AM on April 13, 2011

Desktops: Les, Bessie
Netbook: Buddy
Laptop: Seymour
NAS: Waker
Second NAS: Walt
PS3: Zooey
Network: Glass Family
posted by milk white peacock at 9:50 AM on April 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

Mine are all Batman villains.

Dual-boot desktop? Two-face.
Network: Arkham.
New network after the old one died: Blackgate.
Laptop: Riddler
NAS: DrStrange
PS3: Joker
Xbox: Harley
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 9:52 AM on April 13, 2011

I like the idea of naming computers after mathematicians
Desktops: Euler/Euclid
Netbook: Abel
Laptop: Godel
NAS: Newton
Second NAS: Leibnitz
PS3: Nash
Network: Cantor
posted by directnine at 9:56 AM on April 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

Mine are from the Chronicles of Amber:

Desktops: Oberon, Fiona
Netbook: Bleys
Laptop: Corwin
NAS: Pattern
Second NAS: Logrus
PS3: Random
Network: Amber
posted by chazlarson at 10:02 AM on April 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

We use names from the Jack and Stephen books (for example). Larger devices get named after larger ships.
posted by The corpse in the library at 10:02 AM on April 13, 2011

Response by poster: I knew mefi was the place to go for this.

I'm loving the logic to a lot of these. Two-face is damned tempting for a dual screen. Yosafbridge wasn't mentioned but makes a tempting addition to the firefly option.

Keep 'em coming... :)
posted by sodium lights the horizon at 10:10 AM on April 13, 2011

I name mine after Greek islands, basically bigger islands for bigger more powerful machines
posted by runkelfinker at 10:19 AM on April 13, 2011

Network itself: Galactica

Networking the Galactica? The Cylons will be all over that.

You could go with Blade Runner:

Desktops: Pris, Roy Batty
Netbook: Deckard
Laptop: Holden
NAS: Gaff
Second NAS: Bryant
PS3: JF Sebastian
Network: Probably Replicant or Tyrell Corp or something. Basically your favorite Blade Runner reference.

Plus there are extra names I didn't use (Rachel, Zhora, Tyrell) that would work if you added more hardware.
posted by burnmp3s at 10:20 AM on April 13, 2011

I currently have:

Mothra
Godzilla
Frankenstein
BlackLagoon
CaptainKirk

And an Elton John themed server named Alvin Tostig that hosts a virtual machine named Levon.

Not much logic behind then, just what ever mood I was in at the time.
posted by token-ring at 10:27 AM on April 13, 2011

here at my house, I've named everything after all those 'supernatural' sitcoms of the 60's. I've, for no apparently reason, segregated them by OS.

OS X = The Addams Family
My G3 Powermac is Lurch, the Powerbook is Morticia, and my iMac is Wednesday.

Windows = Bewitched
My main PC is named Serena (who did replace her lookalike Samantha). There's also a PC named Endora that's ancient and only gets turned on occasionally. When Wednesday the iMac is booted into Windows via Boot Camp, she is known as Tabitha.

Linux = I dream of Jeannie.
All linux boxes are named Jeannie. Because all genies are named Jeannie.

Everything else = The Munsters
Small things that connect to the network but aren't "real" computers take their names from The Munsters. I'll soon be adding an iPad named Lily. Yes, she will be dressed in white, why do you ask?
posted by aristan at 10:39 AM on April 13, 2011

This is rather obvious from my username, I suppose, but ours are from the Lord of the Rings.

Suggestions (Alternates):
Gondor, Rohan (Gondor, Mordor) (Isengard, Barad-dur)
Isengard (Helm's Deep) (Rivendell) (Moria)
Lothlorien, Mirkwood (Minas Tirith, Minas Morgul)
Fangorn (Barad-dur) (Shire) (Esgaroth)
Middle-Earth, of course...
posted by galadriel at 10:45 AM on April 13, 2011

My systems are typically named after Greek/Roman mythology, but I have some love for chazlarson and his Amber theme.

Main PC: Prometheus
Secondary drive that contains pretty much my ITunes collection: Orpheus
Laptop: Artemis
Network: Well that has always been TIM, "The Infernal Machine", so that doesnt really fit..
IPhone: Can't really be named as such, but my music playlist on it is named "Ariadne"
posted by elendil71 at 10:49 AM on April 13, 2011

I like old tv references:

Network: Robin's Nest
Machine 1: Magnum
Machine 2: Higgins
...etc.

posted by safetyfork at 10:50 AM on April 13, 2011

I name mine after planets, which is quite literally from a single Universe.

2 loud workhorse desktop machines (mine and the wife's) Earth and Venus, Earth and Mars, Saturn and Jupiter, etc...

A small and surprisingly powerful netbook (Belkar) Mercury

A 'proper' laptop that is rarely used for much Pluto... Maybe Neptune

A NAS box Some Moon... Phobos, Io, just "Moon" after our's

A second NAS that is basically just a clone of the first, but exiled to the the garage Another moon... maybe pluto?

A PS3 I'd probably call it Monolith due to its sleek-glossy-blackness, but maybe you could name it after a famous space-ship

and the network itself MVEMJSUNP, for the mnemonic to remember the planets, or maybe MyVeryExcitedMother. Perhaps what ever the scientific name for our solar system is.

That's my recommendation. Nerdy, but not incredibly nerdy. Makes sense to the occasional outsider too.
posted by codacorolla at 10:50 AM on April 13, 2011

2 loud workhorse desktop machines (mine and the wife's) - Vitalstatistix and Impedimenta
A small and surprisingly powerful netbook - Dogmatix
A 'proper' laptop that is rarely used for much - Getafix
A NAS box - Asterix
A second NAS that is basically just a clone of the first, but exiled to the the garage - Obelix
A PS3 - Cacofonix
and the network itself - Gaul
posted by yaymukund at 11:01 AM on April 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

My personal preference tends to be Gibson/sprawl themed

Desktops: Neuromancer, Wintermute
Netbook: Hideo
Laptop: Ono Sendai Cyberspace 7
NAS: Straylight
Second NAS: Aleph
PS3: Riviera
Network: Matrix

other options: Screaming Fist, Armitage, Hosaka, Tessier-Ashpool, 3Jane, Kuang Grade Mark Eleven, Dixie Flatline, Maas Neotek, Panther Moderns, Colin, Papa Legba, Baron Samedi, Count Zero, The Finn, Chatsubo etc. etc.
posted by juv3nal at 11:12 AM on April 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

Alternately, make the two desktops Case and Molly and make the two NAS's Neuromancer and Wintermute.
posted by juv3nal at 11:13 AM on April 13, 2011

name them after booze - the most powerful machines get named after hard liquors, like vodka and whiskey, smaller ones can be liqueurs, or beer and wines, and the network is called mix
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 11:25 AM on April 13, 2011

There's a wiki for this
posted by djb at 11:27 AM on April 13, 2011 [2 favorites]

Back at an old job we named the servers after Peanuts characters:
Desktops: Linus & Lucy
Netbook: Woodstock
Laptop: Charlie
NAS: Snoopy
Second NAS: Spike
PS3: Pigpen

I use composers alphabetically:
Adams, Bartok, Chopin, Dvorak, etc.
posted by bluejayway at 11:52 AM on April 13, 2011

My current computer names are based on spices: cumin, coriander, cinnamon and nutmeg. Before that they were named after cheeses: edam, mizithra, and paneer.
posted by hariya at 12:00 PM on April 13, 2011

2 loud workhorse desktop machines: Leia and Han
A small and surprisingly powerful netbook: Artoo
A 'proper' laptop that is rarely used for much: Threepio
A NAS box: Obiwan
A second NAS that is basically just a clone of the first, but exiled to the the garage: Yoda, which makes your garage Dagobah.
A PS3: Chewie.
and the network itself: Hoth is easy to spell, but Alderan is more fun when there are network problems.

I like this formulation because there's no Luke.
posted by fleacircus at 12:28 PM on April 13, 2011

Ah, naming things thematically is one of my favorite things about new purchases! I used to name everything after crazy historical figures (and how distraught I was when I plugged Thomas Jefferson the mp3 player and Alexander Hamilton the flash drive into my computer at the same time and the mp3 player froze and died!) but now I'm on a serious Sherlock Holmes kick:

2 loud workhorse desktop machines: Holmes and Watson
A small and surprisingly powerful netbook: Gladstone
A 'proper' laptop that is rarely used for much: Lestrade
A NAS box: Mrs Hudson
A second NAS that is basically just a clone of the first, but exiled to the the garage: Mycroft Holmes
A PS3: Moriarty
and the network itself: 221B Baker St (alternately: Baker Street Irregulars)

Other ideas: Discworld, Futurama, your favorite book, your favorite TV show...
posted by iguessgabby at 4:03 PM on April 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

My personal naming scheme which extends to several customers I've worked with in the past is to use the name of historical figures. You can match the reason those people were remembered to the function of the servers.

Gaming computers go well with generals, if you play war related games like me.
Laptops go well with the names of explorers.
Headless servers go well with decapitated tyrants.
Media Boxes go well with artists.
Storage goes well with engineers.
posted by CautionToTheWind at 3:26 AM on April 14, 2011

Plus you get deliciously justified wikipedia roaming time while researching them!
posted by CautionToTheWind at 3:28 AM on April 14, 2011

I followed in the footsteps of my brother. My whole network is named after Star Trek ship classes. Bigger computers = bigger ships. Mobile devices (ipods mostly) = shuttle crafts. Laptops/netbooks = smaller ships.
posted by kathrynm at 5:27 AM on April 14, 2011

Response by poster: Thank you ladies and gents. I'm really grateful for all your suggestions and amused by how you came up with better ideas in minutes than we'd come up with in about 2 months.

Our favourite idea has to be specialagentwebb's firefly suggestion. Which we tinkered with...

My desktop : YoSaffBridge (because she's twofaced/twin monitored)
Wife's desktop : Kaylee (because she seems to keep everything together)
Small & powerful netbook : River
Larger, thicker laptop : Jayne
NAS1 : Book
NAS2 : Mal (because my sources say Book sees Mal as a younger version of himself)
PS3 : Inara (because she's the entertainment)

The network is likely going to be called Firefly or Verse.

And once I name the SatNav "Wash" she'll have to let me buy another computer just so I can name it Zoe. I wonder if I should call the digital thermometer Simon...
posted by sodium lights the horizon at 3:12 PM on April 14, 2011