One naming structure for every laptop, PC, printer, router and phone, that technicians, IT and office staff all read the same way, and that grows when we open an office in LA or a second one in SF. All four use port codes from UN/LOCODE, the code on bills of lading.
Port code + office, type, number. Nothing else.
The full official UN/LOCODE, so it is unique anywhere in the world.
A company tag in front so our devices sort together. Uses SMPL, because CSS means style sheets in IT.
Name the box after its job. Shown for comparison: it is the one that breaks.
| Machine | A | B | C | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston print laptop | HOU1-LT-01 | USHOU1-LT-01 | SMPL-HOU1-LT01 | HOU1-PRINTHOST |
| Houston Rollo | HOU1-PR-01 | USHOU1-PR-01 | SMPL-HOU1-PR01 | HOU1-PR-01 |
| SF print server | OAK1-PC-01 | USOAK1-PC-01 | SMPL-OAK1-PC01 | OAK1-PRINTHOST |
| NJ laptop | EWR1-LT-01 | USEWR1-LT-01 | SMPL-EWR1-LT01 | EWR1-OFFICE |
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easy to say and type | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | ●●●●● |
| Never collides | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | ●●●●● |
| Stands out on a shared network | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | ●●●●● |
| New offices need no renames | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | ●●●●● |
| Replacing a box breaks nothing | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | ●●●●● |
| Room under 15 chars | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | ●●●●● | ●●●●● |
A replacement gets the next number. An old name always means one machine.
Print hosts get a Tailscale name like hou1-print. Scripts point at it, so a hardware swap breaks nothing.
Name, IP, job name, nickname, model, serial, office and status. Retired rows stay. IT reads IPs, staff read stickers, the sheet joins them.
| Code | UN/LOCODE | Office | Also called |
|---|---|---|---|
| HOU1 | USHOU | Houston office | Houston, ReadySpaces |
| OAK1 | USOAK | Alameda office | SF, San Francisco, Alameda |
| EWR1 | USEWR | NJ office | Edison, Woodbridge, Keasbey |
All codes checked against the UN/LOCODE list on Oct 27, 2026. NJ uses EWR (Newark, NJ), the port code on the NJ side of the Port of NY/NJ. Ready for new offices: LAX1 (Los Angeles), LGB1 (Long Beach), PHL1 (Philadelphia), NYC1 (New York).
Short enough to read over the phone, plain to any technician, and the XXX1-XX-01 pattern already marks a device as ours on a shared network, so no company tag is needed. If an office opens abroad, that office alone adds its country code. B is the safe choice if overseas offices are likely. D is here to show why box names should not describe the job.