Admin Tips
- Windows Server 2008/2003/2000/XP/NT Administrator Knowledge Base
  - Windows 2003
    - Admin Tips
      - Network
        Naming Network Connections

Section(s): Network
Published on Apr 12, 2006.
Last Modified on Apr 12, 2006.
Last Modified by Mitch Tulloch.
Rated 3.7 out of 5 based on 10 votes.

Take a moment to name your network connections appropriately and save yourself time when troubleshooting later on.

If you have a server with more than one network card in it, then it's a good idea to give descriptive names to your network connections instead of the default Local Area Connection, Local Area Connection 2, and so on that Windows creates for you. For example, if you have a server with one network interface on the internal (private) network side and the other interface connected to the Internet, you could rename the first connection Private Network and the second one Public Network. Taking simple steps like this can save you precious seconds when troubleshooting a networking problem on a critical server since its easy to forget in the heat of troubleshooting things which network interface Local Area Connection stands for, public or private.

About Mitch Tulloch

Mitch Tulloch was lead author for the Windows Vista Resource Kit from Microsoft Press, which is the book for IT pros who want to deploy, maintain and support Windows Vista in mid- and large-sized network environments. Mitch was also the author of Introducing Windows Server 2008 and technical project lead for the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Resource Kit, both books also from Microsoft Press. For more information on these and other books by Mitch, see www.mtit.com .