IQN Naming convention

The rationale behind this in RFC 3720 is that above all, IQNs should be unique. The date prepended is a reasonable guarantee that the entity that controlled the domain name represented (in the naming auth field) at that time a "naming authority" who could ensure uniqueness - domain names change hands all the time and since the only other unique stuff going on is to the RHS of that first : (which is a free-for-all) there might already be a Linux:array0 or something similarly imaginative floating around.

RFC 3720 uses the (often amusing) MUST to define the date as YYYY-MM and goes into pernicious detail about the precise format and time of use etc. I imagine this is simply to make parsing and sorting simpler (fixed field lengths, always increasing). Are the RFC cops going to break your door down if you call your target iqn.screwyouRFC3720? Will it break the internet? No.

It has absolutely nothing to do with DNS, DNS is merely a handy, delegated, hierarchical system that already gets you from any TLD to a single device, if you like, so it's an easy way to identify responsible parties.

Personally, I like to make sure the IQN says something about when, who, what, why, and how important the data is, so when I'm hunting for space somewhere I know who to ask.

Like it or not, you're the naming authority.