Rename-SPServer and Hostname

Question

For Rename-SPServer, MSDN says:

"The Rename-SPServer cmdlet changes the name of the server for internal use within SharePoint Products. The server itself must be manually renamed."

Now the last part isn't clear. Is renaming of the physical box (hostname/netbios name) optional or mandatory for SharePoint farm to work?

Answer 1

Good thinking. Why would you want to have a differently named SharePoint server farm than the actual physical hostname?

I highly doubt that it would be beneficial to have the SharePoint farm being differently named than the host name. I would think it is mandatory to change the hostname as well, otherwise you will run into problems along the way, because some stuff might want to access the hostname to access SharePoint, but won't find it there.