IBM BPM, V8.0.1, All platforms > Get started with IBM BPM > Key concepts > Deployment architecture
Naming considerations for profiles, nodes, servers, hosts, and cells
This topic discusses reserved terms and issues you must consider when naming your profile, node, server, host, and cell (if applicable). This topic applies to distributed platforms.
Profile naming considerations
The profile name can be any unique name with the following restrictions. Do not use any of the following characters when naming your profile:
- Spaces
- Special characters that are not allowed within the name of a directory on your operating system, such as *, &, or ?.
- Slashes (/) or back slashes (\)
Double-byte characters are allowed.
Directory
path considerations: The installation directory path must be less
than or equal to 60 characters. The number of characters in the profiles_directory_path\ profile_name directory must be less than or equal to 80 characters.
Use a short path naming convention when you create a profile in a Windows environment to avoid the Windows 255 character path length limitation.
Node, server, host, and cell naming considerations
Reserved
names: Avoid using reserved names as field values. The use of reserved names can cause unpredictable results. The following words
are reserved:
- cells
- nodes
- servers
- clusters
- applications
- deployments
Descriptions of fields on the Node and Hosts Names and Node, Host, and Cell Names pages: Use the appropriate naming guidelines when you create profiles.
| Field name | Default value | Constraints | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Node name |
| Avoid using the reserved names. | Select any name you want. To help organize your installation, use a unique name if you plan to create more than one server on the system. |
| Server name |
| Use a unique name for the server. | The logical name for the server. |
| Host name |
| The host name must be addressable through your network.
If you are planning to use Business Space, use a fully qualified host name. | Use the actual DNS name or IP address of your workstation to enable communication with it. See additional information about the host name following this table. |
| Field name | Default value | Constraints | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Node name |
| Use a unique name for the dmgr. Avoid using the reserved names. | The name is used for administration within the dmgr cell. |
| Host name |
| The host name must be addressable through your network. Avoid using the reserved names.
If you are planning to use Business Space, use a fully qualified host name. | Use the actual DNS name or IP address of your workstation to enable communication with it. See additional information about the host name following this table. |
| Cell name |
| Use a unique name for the dmgr cell. A cell name must be unique in any circumstance in which the product is running on the same physical workstation or cluster of workstations, such as a Sysplex. Additionally, a cell name must be unique in any circumstance in which network connectivity between entities is required either between the cells or from a client that must communicate with each of the cells. Cell names also must be unique if their name spaces are going to be federated. Otherwise, you might encounter symptoms such as a javax.naming.Name NotFoundException exception, in which case, you need to create uniquely named cells. | All federated nodes become members of the dmgr cell , which you name in the Node, Host, and Cell Names page of pmt.sh. |
| Field name | Default value | Constraints | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Node name |
| Avoid using the reserved names.
Use a unique name within the dmgr cell. | The name is used for administration within the dmgr cell to which the custom profile is added. Use a unique name within the dmgr cell. |
| Host name |
| The host name must be addressable through your network.
If you are planning to use Business Space, use a fully qualified host name. | Use the actual DNS name or IP address of your workstation to enable communication with it. See additional information about the host name following this table. |
Host name considerations:
The host name is the network name for the physical workstation on which the node is installed. The host name must resolve to a physical network node on the server. When multiple network cards exist in the server, the host name or IP address must resolve to one of the network cards. Remote nodes use the host name to connect to and to communicate with this node.
IBM BPM is compliant to both Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) and version 6
(IPv6). Wherever you can enter IP addresses in the administrative console, or elsewhere, you can do so in either format. If that if IPv6 is implemented on your system you must enter the IP address in IPv6 format, and conversely, if IPv6 is not yet available to you, enter IP addresses in IPv4 format. For more information on IPv6 refer
to the following description: 
IPv6.
The following guidelines can help in determining the appropriate host name for your workstation:
- Select a host name that other workstations can reach within your network.
- Do not use the generic identifier, localhost, for this value.
- Do not attempt to install IBM BPM products on a server with a host name that uses characters from the double-byte character set (DBCS). DBCS characters are not supported when used in the host name.
- Avoid using the underscore ( _ ) character in server names. Internet standards dictate that domain names conform to the host name requirements described in Internet Official Protocol Standards RFC 952 and RFC 1123. Domain names must contain only letters (upper or lower case) and digits. Domain names can also contain dash characters ( - ) as long as the dashes are not on the ends of the name. Underscore characters ( _ ) are not supported in the host name. If you have installed IBM BPM on a server with an underscore character in the server name, access the server with its IP address until you rename it.
If you define coexisting nodes on the same computer with unique IP addresses, define each IP address in a domain name server (DNS) look-up table. Configuration files for servers do not provide domain name resolution for multiple IP addresses on a workstation with a single network address.
The value that you specify for the host name is used as the value of the hostName property in configuration documents. Specify the host name value in one of the following formats:
- Fully qualified domain name servers (DNS) host name string, such as xmachine.manhattan.ibm.com
- The default short DNS host name string, such as xmachine
- Numeric IP address, such as 127.1.255.3
The fully qualified DNS host name has the advantages of being totally unambiguous and flexible. You have the flexibility of changing the actual IP address for the host system without having to change the server configuration. This value for host name is particularly useful if you plan to change the IP address frequently when using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) to assign IP addresses. A disadvantage of this format is being dependent on DNS. If DNS is not available, then connectivity is compromised.
The short host name is also dynamically resolvable. A short name format has the added ability of being redefined in the local hosts file so that the system can run the server even when disconnected from the network. Define the short name to 127.0.0.1 (local loopback) in the hosts file to run disconnected. A disadvantage of the short name format is being dependent on DNS for remote access. If DNS is not available, then connectivity is compromised.
A numeric IP address has the advantage of not requiring name resolution through DNS. A remote node can connect to the node you name with a numeric IP address without DNS being available. A disadvantage of this format is that the numeric IP address is fixed. You must change the setting of the hostName property in configuration documents whenever you change the workstation IP address. Therefore, do not use a numeric IP address if you use DHCP, or if you change IP addresses regularly. Another disadvantage of this format is that you cannot use the node if the host is disconnected from the network.