Nevis Linux Cluster Node Names

These are the names of the computers in the Nevis Linux Cluster.

Some machines that are not listed:

• the systems on the Nevis condor batch farm;
• the student boxes;
• machines that are not part of the cluster (e.g., Windows machines, laptops, some ATLAS, DOE, and Neutrino systems).

Most Linux machines at Nevis are typically used by a particular working group; the student boxes are the main exception, but there are other shared workstations noted below.

Each group has an informal naming convention for its machines. The list below includes the different groups with machines in the cluster, the basis for the names, and description of each Linux machine normally used by that group.

ATLAS

Named after members of the Romanov dynasty

Name	Function	CPU	Memory	Disk	Derived from
kolya	ATLAS workgroup server	Dual 3.2 GHz Xeon	4 GB	2.5 TB	Tsar Nikolai II Alexandrovich (1868-1918)
anna	ATLAS client	2.4 GHz Pentium 4	1 GB	67 GB	Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicolaievna (1901-1918?)
tanya	ATLAS client	3.2 GHz Dual-Core Pentium D	1 GB	60 GB	Grand Duchess Tatiana Nicolaievna (1897-1918)
xenia	ATLAS tier3 server	Quad 2.26 GHz 4-core Xeon	24 GB	15 TB	Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna
karthur	ATLAS/D0 workgroup server	Dual 3.2 GHz Xeon	4 GB	2.5 TB	Arthur Pendragon, Once and Future King
elecdesign	Electronics shop chip-design workstation	2.8 GHz Pentium 4	1 GB	160 GB	Sometimes we have to use a practical name

DOE

Named for Chinese imperial dynasties (pronunciation guide)

Name	Function	CPU	Memory	Disk	Derived from
shang	DOE workgroup server	Quad 2 GHz AMD Opteron (64-bit)	4 GB	1.2 TB	Shang Dynasty, 16th century B.C. - 1066 B.C.
han	DOE disk server	Dual Intel Xeon 2.5 GHz quad-core	8 GB	8 TB	Han Dynasty, 206 B.C.-9 A.D (Western Han); 25-220 A.D. (Eastern Han)

Neutrino

Named after streets in the area of Columbia University

Name	Function	CPU	Memory	Disk	Derived from
houston	Neutrino home directories	Dual 0.8 GHz Eight-core Opteron	16 GB	320 GB
riverside	Neutrino file server	Quad 2.27 GHz Four-core Xeon	12 GB	14 TB
westside	Neutrino file server	Quad 2.27 GHz Four-core Xeon	12 GB	14 TB
morningside	Neutrino file server	Dual Intel Xeon 2.5 GHz quad-core	8 GB	6.3 TB
amsterdam	Neutrino file server	Dual 3.2 GHz Xeon	4 GB	2.4 TB
quarter	Neutrino 32-bit server	Dual 2.0 GHz Xeon	8 GB	160 GB	(thirty-) two-bit system for 32-bit compilations

VERITAS

Named after characters in the Earthsea books by Ursula K. LeGuin

Name	Function	CPU	Memory	Disk	Derived from
tehanu	VERITAS workgroup server	Dual 2.27 GHz Xeon quad-core	12 GB	13 TB	Tehanu is the fourth book in the series

Shared between workgroups

Named (initially) for characters and locations from the Harry Potter novels by J. K. Rowling. (The student boxes are also shared, but they're described separately.) The reason for mixed naming scheme is these systems were at one time dedicated to specific workgroups.

Name	Function	CPU	Memory	Disk	Derived from
hogwarts	General shared server	Xen virtual machine on HA cluster			Hogwarts, a school where wizards are trained
hermione	Shared client	2 GHz Athlon Duo	2 GB	60 GB	Hermione Granger, one of Harry's friends
ron	Shared client	2 GHz Athlon Duo	2 GB	60 GB	Ron Weasley, another of Harry's friends
harry	Shared client	2 GHz Athlon Duo	2 GB	60 GB	Named after characters in the Super Mario Bros. series of games.
claremont	Shared client	2 GHz Athlon Duo	2 GB	60 GB	Named after streets in the area of Columbia University
broadway	Shared client	1.86 GHz Dual-core	2 GB	72 GB
columbus	Shared client	1.86 GHz Dual-core	4 GB	72 GB
madison	Shared client	1.86 GHz Dual-core	2 GB	72 GB
lexington	Shared client	2.8 GHz Core 2 Duo	2 GB	60 GB
leonardo	Shared client	2 GHz Pentium Dual-core	2 GB	130 GB	After Leonardo da Vinci, an Italian inventor and artist.
yoog	Shared client located in the Annex	1.8 GHz Pentium 4	1 GB	24 GB	From the Russian word for "south" (since it's located in "Nevis South")
isolde	D0 client	3 GHz Pentium 4	1 GB	60 GB	Isolde, a woman of tragedy

Administrative servers

Named for historical figures who made important contributions to Western thought

Name	Function	CPU	Memory	Disk	Derived from
ada	web server	Xen virtual machine on HA cluster			Ada Byron, Countess of Lovelace (1815-1852), the founder of scientific computing.
annex	Annex general-purpose server	Dual 2.4 GHz Xeon	1 GB	250 GB	sometimes we have to use a practical name
burr	virtual name for backup HA server				Aaron Burr (1756-1836), was the third vice-president of the United States. (burr stands ready to STONITH hamilton, and vice versa.)
cordwainer	scanner workstation	2.8 GHz Pentium 4	512 MB	35 GB	Cordwainer Smith was a science-fiction writer. Among his best-known stories is Scanners Live in Vain.
franklin	mail server	Xen virtual machine on HA cluster			Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), who was (among many other things) the first Postmaster General of the United Sates.
hamilton	virtual name for main HA server				Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804), born on the island of Nevis, was the first Secretary of the Treasury. (Also, HA are the first two letters of his name.)
hermes	Condor and DNS server	Dual-core 1.86 GHz Xeon	1 GB	128 GB	Hermes was the messenger of the gods; a god of intellect, invention, travelers, communication, and many other attributes.
hypatia	HA server	Two AMD Opteron 6128 (16 cores total)	16 GB	2.5 TB	Hypatia of Alexandria (d. 415), a teacher and philosopher who was killed for advocating experimental science and other heresies.
lincoln	log server	alias for hermes			Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), lawyer, statesman, and 16th American President; said to have been born in a log cabin.
orestes	HA server	Two AMD Opteron 6128 (16 cores total)	16 GB	2.5 TB	Orestes was prefect of Alexandria, and tried to maintain the peace between Hypatia and Cyril. He failed, providing Cyril with the opportunity to arrange Hypatia's death.
shelley	backup server	Dual Core 1.5 GHz Intel Xeon 3050	2 GB	4 TB	Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851), writer and philosopher, best known as the author of Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus.
sullivan	mailing-list server	Xen virtual machine on HA cluster			Take your pick: From Anne Sullivan, who taught Helen Keller how to communicate; From Sir Arthur Sullivan, of Gilbert and Sullivan, who composed The Mikado ("...he's got 'em on the list...").
tango	samba server	Xen virtual machine on HA cluster			The tango is a dance from Argentina that's actually quite different from the Brazilian samba.

Why the funny names?

Well, there's the sheer intellectual over-indulgence of it all, but there's also a serious reason: the function of a given computer can change over time; for example, a computer that used to be Jones' Linux desktop client may become an FTP server in the future. If the computer's name was jonespc or d0pc3, we'd want to change it to ftpserver or something like that. If the computer's name was hanuman.nevis.columbia.edu, there'd be no reason to change it, nor any need to update the various databases of names (/etc/hosts, NIS, DNS, etc.).

Obviously, we have this luxury because there are relatively few computers at Nevis. We can configure them individually and know each one by name. If we had a hundred boxes, this would be impossible.