[This document describes a field in the Princeton University Host Database. You may also view descriptions of other fields.]
Every entry in the Host Database must have a unique name, a.k.a. the "fully-qualified domain name." This is the way we identify each entry in the Host Database.
A fully-qualified domain name is actually made of two parts: an ENTRY-NAME (e.g. foo) followed by a DNS-DOMAIN (e.g. Princeton.EDU). The fully-qualified domain name (e.g. foo.Princeton.EDU) is sometimes informally referred to as the "hostname."
When registering a new device in the Host Database, you need to make up an ENTRY-NAME. If the device is already registered in the Host Database, you may change the ENTRY-NAME. (Except that for entries associated with Dormnet subscriptions, you don't make up the ENTRY-NAME; it is created for you so that it matches your OIT netid, and you cannot change it.)
When making up an ENTRY-NAME, note that it must start with a letter, and may only contain letters, numbers, and dashes. No other characters are valid. Therefore, a name such as "fredmac" is valid, while "Fred's Mac" is invalid. The ENTRY-NAME should be fewer than 64 characters.
When making up an ENTRY-NAME, keep in mind that you are expected to abide by the University's acceptable use policy; that policy appears in Princeton University Information Technology Resources and Internet Access -- Guidelines for Use. The guidelines regarding civility and respect for others are particularly relevant here.
The DNS-DOMAIN must be selected from the list of valid domains. In general, you should select "Princeton.EDU" as the DNS-DOMAIN. If you are in a department that has a different DNS-DOMAIN defined (and you've been told to use it), then select that departmental DNS domain instead. (Do not select the DNS-DOMAIN "student.Princeton.EDU", as it is only intended for use with entries corresponding to Dormnet subscriptions.)
Fully-qualified domain names must be unique; you cannot request an ENTRY-NAME and DNS-DOMAIN that would cause your fully-qualified domain name to be the same as someone else's. However, you can certainly select the same ENTRY-NAME as someone else if your device is in a different DNS-DOMAIN (e.g. foo.student.Princeton.EDU and foo.Princeton.EDU are different).