server: server is unnamed
This informational message is displayed during SQL Server startup if the SQL Server has not been given a name using the sp_addserver system procedure. The server name referred to here is stored in the sysservers system table as well as in the @@SERVERNAME global variable. This name is used primarily for managing server-to-server communication and does not absolutely need to match the computer name of the server (but it usually should, for ease of use of replication and other multiple server actions).
No action is required for this message. The SA can prevent this message by assigning a name to the server using the sp_addserver procedure, as follows:
sp_addserver sql_server_name, local
(Under Windows NT, the setup program automatically gives SQL Server the same name as the server computer.) For information about using sp_addserver, see the Microsoft SQL Server Transact-SQL Reference.
The @@SERVERNAME global variable will not reflect the name until SQL Server is restarted. Subsequently, each time SQL Server is started, the new name is displayed. For example, if the SQL Server is named MYSERVER, the message would read:
server: server name is 'MYSERVER'
Although the server name is used during server-to-server communications, specifying a name does not, in itself, facilitate this communication, and therefore does not represent a security risk. Naming all servers makes the SQL Server error logs easy to identify because the server name is contained within each log.