homelab-design/decisions/0037-node-naming-conventions.md

Node Naming Conventions

• Status: accepted
• Date: 2026-02-05
• Deciders: Billy
• Technical Story: Establish memorable, role-based naming for cluster nodes

Context and Problem Statement

The homelab cluster has grown to include:

• 14 Kubernetes nodes (control plane + workers)
• Multiple storage servers
• Development workstations

Generic names like node-01, worker-gpu-1 are:

• Hard to remember
• Don't convey node purpose
• Boring

How do we name nodes in a way that's memorable, fun, and indicates their role?

Decision Drivers

• Names should indicate node role/capability
• Easy to remember and reference in conversation
• Consistent theme across the homelab
• Scalable as more nodes are added

Decision Outcome

Chosen option: Dungeons & Dragons character naming scheme

All nodes are named after famous D&D characters from Forgotten Realms, with character class mapping to node role.

Naming Scheme

Control Plane → Companions of the Hall

The control plane nodes are named after the legendary Companions of the Hall, Drizzt's closest allies.

Node	Character	Hardware	Notes
bruenor	Bruenor Battlehammer	Intel N100	Dwarf King of Mithral Hall
catti	Catti-brie	Intel N100	Human ranger, Bruenor's adopted daughter
storm	Storm Silverhand	Intel N100	Chosen of Mystra, Harper leader

Wizards → GPU Nodes (Spellcasters)

Wizards cast powerful spells, just as GPU nodes power AI/ML workloads.

Node	Character	GPU	Notes
khelben	Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun	AMD Radeon 8060S 64GB	Primary AI inference, Strix Halo APU
elminster	Elminster Aumar	NVIDIA RTX 2070 8GB	CUDA workloads, Sage of Shadowdale
drizzt	Drizzt Do'Urden*	AMD Radeon 680M	ROCm backup node
danilo	Danilo Thann	Intel Arc A770	Intel inference, bard/wizard multiclass
regis	Regis	NVIDIA GPU	Halfling with magical ruby, spellthief vibes

*Drizzt is technically a ranger, but his magical scimitars and time in Menzoberranzan qualify him for the GPU tier.

Rogues → ARM64 Edge Nodes

Rogues are nimble and work in the shadows—perfect for lightweight edge compute on Raspberry Pi nodes.

Node	Character	Hardware	Notes
durnan	Durnan	Raspberry Pi 4 8GB	Yawning Portal innkeeper, retired adventurer
elaith	Elaith Craulnober	Raspberry Pi 4 8GB	The Serpent, moon elf rogue
jarlaxle	Jarlaxle Baenre	Raspberry Pi 4 8GB	Drow mercenary leader
mirt	Mirt the Moneylender	Raspberry Pi 4 8GB	Harper agent, "Old Wolf"
volo	Volothamp Geddarm	Raspberry Pi 4 8GB	Famous author and traveler

Fighters → x86 CPU Workers

Fighters are the workhorses, handling general compute without magical (GPU) abilities.

Node	Character	Hardware	Notes
wulfgar	Wulfgar	Intel x86_64	Barbarian of Icewind Dale, Aegis-fang wielder

Infrastructure Nodes (Locations)

Node	Character/Location	Role	Notes
candlekeep	Candlekeep	Primary NAS (QNAP)	Library fortress, knowledge storage
gravenhollow	Gravenhollow	Fast NAS (TrueNAS Scale)	Living memory of the Underdark, all-SSD, dual 10GbE, nfs-fast
waterdeep	Waterdeep	Mac Mini dev workstation	City of Splendors, primary city

Future Expansion

Class	Role	Candidate Names
Clerics	Database/backup nodes	Cadderly, Dawnbringer
Fighters	High-CPU compute	Artemis Entreri, Obould
Druids	Monitoring/observability	Jaheira, Cernd
Bards	API gateways	Other Thann family members
Paladins	Security nodes	Ajantis, Keldorn

Architecture

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                     Homelab Cluster (14 Kubernetes Nodes)                      │
│                                                                                │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐     │
│  │              👑 Control Plane (Companions of the Hall)                │     │
│  │                                                                       │     │
│  │      bruenor              catti                storm                  │     │
│  │      Intel N100           Intel N100           Intel N100             │     │
│  │      "Dwarf King"         "Catti-brie"         "Silverhand"           │     │
│  └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘     │
│                                                                                │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐     │
│  │                    🧙 Wizards (GPU Spellcasters)                      │     │
│  │                                                                       │     │
│  │  khelben         elminster       drizzt        danilo       regis    │     │
│  │  Radeon 8060S    RTX 2070        Radeon 680M   Arc A770     NVIDIA   │     │
│  │  64GB unified    8GB VRAM        iGPU          16GB         GPU      │     │
│  │  "Blackstaff"    "Sage"          "Ranger"      "Bard"       "Ruby"   │     │
│  └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘     │
│                                                                                │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐     │
│  │                    🗡️ Rogues (ARM64 Edge Nodes)                       │     │
│  │                                                                       │     │
│  │  durnan         elaith         jarlaxle        mirt         volo     │     │
│  │  Pi 4 8GB       Pi 4 8GB       Pi 4 8GB        Pi 4 8GB     Pi 4 8GB │     │
│  │  "Innkeeper"    "Serpent"      "Mercenary"     "Old Wolf"   "Author" │     │
│  └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘     │
│                                                                                │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐     │
│  │                    ⚔️ Fighters (x86 CPU Workers)                      │     │
│  │                                                                       │     │
│  │                           wulfgar                                     │     │
│  │                           Intel x86_64                                │     │
│  │                           "Barbarian of Icewind Dale"                 │     │
│  └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘     │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    🏰 Locations (Off-Cluster Infrastructure)                   │
│                                                                                │
│  📚 candlekeep              🪨 gravenhollow              🏙️ waterdeep           │
│  QNAP NAS                  TrueNAS Scale (SSD)          Mac Mini               │
│  nfs-slow                   nfs-fast                     Dev workstation        │
│  High capacity              High speed, 12.2TB           Primary dev box        │
│  "Library Fortress"         "Living Memory"              "City of Splendors"    │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Storage Mapping

Location	Storage Class	Speed	Capacity	Use Case
Candlekeep	nfs-default	HDD	High	Backups, archives, media
Gravenhollow	nfs-fast	SSD (12.2 TB)	Medium-High	Database WAL, hot data, model cache
Longhorn	longhorn	Local SSD	Distributed	Replicated app data

Node Labels

# GPU Wizard nodes
node.kubernetes.io/instance-type: gpu-wizard
homelab.daviestechlabs.io/character-class: wizard
homelab.daviestechlabs.io/character-name: khelben

# ARM64 Rogue nodes  
node.kubernetes.io/instance-type: raspberry-pi
homelab.daviestechlabs.io/character-class: rogue
homelab.daviestechlabs.io/character-name: jarlaxle

DNS/Hostname Resolution

All nodes are resolvable via:

• Kubernetes DNS: <node>.node.kubernetes.io
• Local DNS: <node>.lab.daviestechlabs.io
• mDNS: <node>.local

References

• Forgotten Realms Wiki
• Khelben Arunsun
• Elminster
• Candlekeep
• Gravenhollow
• Related: ADR-0035 - ARM64 Worker Strategy
• Related: ADR-0011 - KubeRay Unified Serving