Introducing Server Nicknames

This past week we released the simple yet widely requested feature Server Nicknames, the ability to easily track and manage various servers with unique custom names.

At first glance this may seem like a non update but not when you consider that most Cycle users are connecting many servers from multiple providers and locations in the cloud and on premises.

With long default server names, this is a huge quality of life improvement.

Lets dive into why this is more than what meets the eye, and how it is more of a testament to the Cycle platform and team and our commitment to simplify DevOps for everyone.

The Issue, Host Name Confusion:

Before the update servers would show up in Cycle and look something like this:

abcde-vultr-ord.s.(hub-id).cycle.io

For users that have dozens or hundreds of servers, this could get confusing. Some servers are tagged and constrained to run specific workloads, but that's not always easy to see with auto generated names.

We wanted to offer a solution that could increase developer experience and make it simpler to identify certain servers that needed to stand out from the rest.

It was a pain point we heard repeatedly from our users. So, we listened.

The Solution

Server nicknames allow the user to assign a customizable, unique nickname to any server, whether it's an AWS node or the bare metal in your closet, and track it all in one place.

We have seen names as simple as ABC-1, ABC-2, and so on, but we have also heard of some creative ideas floating around our community.

Imagine, your High CPU server is Nick Fury, Jarvis is running machine learning workloads, and so on.

All jokes aside, teams are now able to define their own naming conventions that work for them based on function, location, team or environment.

The result is a cleaner, more intuitive dashboard and a better handle on a complex issue, infrastructure.

Getting Started

Using nicknames on Cycle is simple:

1. Head to Cycle.io
2. Login
3. Go to your Servers tab
4. Click the server you want to rename
5. Hit the “Nickname” field and enter a custom name
6. Boom — you're done

The new name shows up across your hub, dashboard and environment interactions.

Cycle's Updates:

Cycle's engineering team releases new features and security updates every ~2 weeks, prioritizing features and requests that come from about 80% of our users and community.

Features no matter the complexity, are all to help our users break away from the shackles of complexity that are brought on from tools like Kubernetes.

Our commitment is to continue to add value to the platform and the next year will be a testament to our passion for DevOps and helping teams solve meaningful challenges.

💡 Interested in trying the Cycle platform? Create your account today! Want to drop in and have a chat with the Cycle team? We'd love to have you join our public Cycle Slack community!