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Welcome to The Ultimate Azure Naming Convention. Azure is a powerful and versatile cloud platform, but without a clear and consistent naming convention, it can quickly turn into a maze of cryptic resource names, duplicated efforts, and costly mistakes. Whether you’re building a small proof of concept or managing a multi-subscription enterprise environment, a well-thought-out Azure naming strategy is essential for clarity, scalability, and governance. In this post, we’ll explore The Ultimate Azure Naming Convention, a practical, adaptable framework that helps teams stay organized, compliant, and efficient while making life easier for everyone from developers to auditors.

Why Naming Conventions Are Important

Naming conventions in Azure are far more than a cosmetic preference, they are the foundation of operational efficiency and long-term maintainability. A consistent naming pattern allows teams to quickly identify the purpose, location, environment, and ownership of a resource without opening a single configuration file. This reduces onboarding time for new team members, streamlines automation scripts, simplifies cost tracking, and ensures compliance with both internal policies and external regulations. Poor or inconsistent naming, on the other hand, can lead to confusion, misconfiguration, and unnecessary costs. In short, a strong naming convention is an investment in clarity, governance, and collaboration.

The Ultimate Azure Naming Convention

Azure General

Covers fundamental Azure resources and account-wide settings such as subscriptions, billing, tags, and resource groups. This is the backbone for organizing and managing your cloud environment.

Azure ServiceNaming Convention
Management Groupmg-
Subscriptionssub-
Resource Grouprg-
Managed Identityid-
Policy Initiativeset-
Policy Definitiondef-

Azure Networking

Includes services for connecting resources securely and efficiently, such as Azure Virtual Network, Load Balancer, VPN Gateway, ExpressRoute, and Azure DNS. Handles both internal and external connectivity.

Azure ServiceNaming Convention
Application Gatewayagw-
App Security Group (asg)asg-
Cdn Profilecdnp-
Cdn Endpointcdne-
Expressroute Circuiterc-
Expressroute Connectiongc-
Dns Zonednsz-
Private Dns Zonepdnsz-
Firewallafw-
Firewall Policyafwp-
Bastionbas-
Front Doorfd-
Front Door Firewall Policyfdfp-
Load Balancer (internal)lbi-
Load Balancer (external)lbe-
Load Balancer Rulerule-
Local Network Gatewaylgw-
Nat Gatewayngw-
Network Interface (nic)nic-
Network Security Group (nsg)nsg-
Nsg Security Rulesnsgsr-
Network Watchernw-
Private Endpointpep-
Public Ip Addresspip-
Public Ip Prefixippre-
Route Filterrf-
Route Tablert-
Service Endpoint Policyse-
Traffic Manager Profiletraf-
User Defined Route (udr)udr-
Virtual Networkvnet-
Subnetsnet-
Virtual Network Peeringpeer-
Virtual Wanvwan-
Vpn Gatewayvpng-
Vpn Gateway Connectionvcn-
Vpn Sitevst-
Virtual Network Gatewayvgw-
Web App Firewall Policywaf-
Waf Policy Rule Groupwafrg-

Azure Compute & Web

Provides the infrastructure to run applications, from virtual machines and Azure App Service to serverless functions and batch processing. Ideal for hosting web apps, APIs, and workloads.

Azure ServiceNaming Convention
App Service Environmentase-
App Service Planasp-
App Serviceapp-
Availability Setavail-
Arc Enabled Serverarcs-
Arc Enabled Kubernetes Clusterarck-
Disk Encryption Setdes-
Function Appfunc-
Shared Image Gallerygat-
Managed Disk (os)osdisk-
Managed Disk (data)disk-
Notification Hubsnft-
Notification Hubs Namespacenftns-
Snapshotsnap-
Static Web Appstapp-
Virtual Machine Windowsvmw-
Virtual Machine Linuxvml-
Virtual Machine Scale Set Windowsvmss-
Virtual Machine Scale Set Linuxvmss-
Load Testing Servicelt-

Azure Containers

Enables containerized application deployment and management using Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure Container Instances, and related services for scaling and orchestration.

Azure ServiceNaming Convention
Container Kubernetes Serviceaks-
Container Registrycr-
Container Instanceci-
Service Fabric Clustersf-
Service Fabric Managed Clustersfmc-
Container App Environmentcae-
Container Appca-

Azure Databases

Offers fully managed database services like Azure SQL Database, Cosmos DB, PostgreSQL, and MySQL. Handles relational, NoSQL, and globally distributed data needs.

Azure ServiceNaming Convention
Cosmos Db Accountcosmos-
Cache For Redisredis-
Sql Serversql-
Sql Databasesqldb-
Mysql Databasemysqldb-
Postgresql Databasepsqldb-
Sql Server Stretch Databasesqlstrdb-
Sql Managed Instancesqlmi-

Azure Storage

Covers blob, file, queue, and table storage for unstructured and structured data, with options for redundancy, scalability, and backup.

Azure ServiceNaming Convention
Storage Accountst-
Storsimplessimp-

Azure AI & ML

Provides machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities, including Azure Machine Learning, Cognitive Services, and OpenAI integrations for building intelligent applications.

Azure ServiceNaming Convention
Machine Learning Workspacemlw-
Search Servicesrch-
Openai Serviceoai-
Speech Servicespch-
Language Servicelang-
Translator Servicetran-
Vision Servicevis-
Face Serviceface-
Anomaly Detector Servicead-
Content Safety Servicecs-
Personalizer Servicepers-
Bot Servicebot-
Document Intelligence Servicedoci-
Metrics Advisor Servicema-
Video Indexer Servicevi-
Immersive Reader Serviceir-
Microsoft Fabricfab-

Azure Analytics & IoT

Includes big data and analytics tools such as Azure Synapse Analytics, HDInsight, and IoT Hub for real-time telemetry and event processing from devices.

Azure ServiceNaming Convention
Analysis Services Serveras-
Databricks Workspacedbw-
Stream Analyticsasa-
Data Explorer Clusterdec-
Data Explorer Cluster Databasededb-
Data Factoryadf-
Data Lake Store Accountdls-
Data Lake Analytics Accountdla-
Event Hub Namespaceevhns-
Event Hubevh-
Event Gridevgd-
Event Grid Subscriptionegst-
Event Grid Topicevgt-
Hdinsight - Hadoop Clusterhadoop-
Hdinsight - Hbase Clusterhbase-
Hdinsight - Kafka Clusterkafka-
Hdinsight - Spark Clusterspark-
Hdinsight - Storm Clusterstorm-
Hdinsight - Ml Services Clustermls-
Iot Hubiot-
Iot Device Provisioning Servicesprovs-
Provisioning Services Certificatepcert-
Power Bi Embeddedpbi-
Power Bi Workspacepbiw-
Time Series Insights Environmenttsi-
Synapse Analytics Workspacesynw-
Synapse Analytics Sql Dedicated Poolsyndp-
Synapse Analytics Spark Poolsynsp-
Digital Twins Instancedt-
Batch Accountba-

Azure Virtual Desktop

Azure Virtual Desktop and related services for providing secure, scalable virtualized Windows or app environments to users.

Azure ServiceNaming Convention
Virtual Desktop Host Poolvdpool-
Virtual Desktop App Groupvdag-
Virtual Desktop Workspacevdws-

Azure Dev Tools

Developer-focused resources like Azure DevOps, Repos, Pipelines, and testing services to streamline code development, CI/CD, and project management.

Azure ServiceNaming Convention
App Configuration Storeappcs-
Signalrsigr-
Maps Accountmap-

Azure Integration

Covers services like Logic Apps, Service Bus, and Event Grid to connect applications, automate workflows, and manage event-driven architectures.

Azure ServiceNaming Convention
Api Managementapim-
Integration Accountia-
Logic Appslogic-
Service Bus Namespacesbns-
Service Bus Queuesbq-
Service Bus Topicsbt-

Azure Migration

Azure tools for assessing, planning, and executing migrations from on-premises or other clouds, such as Azure Migrate and Database Migration Service.

Azure ServiceNaming Convention
Database Migration Servicedms-
Database Migration Projectmigr-
Recovery Services Vaultrsv-

Azure Management

Centralized tools for monitoring, security, and governance like Azure Monitor, Security Center, Cost Management, and Policy for compliance and performance oversight.

Azure ServiceNaming Convention
Automation Accountaa-
App Insightsappi-
Monitor Action Groupag-
Purview Instancespview-
Blueprintbp-
Blueprint Assignmentbpa-
Key Vaultkv-
Log Analytics Workspacelog-

Conclusion

In this blog post we Learn about The Ultimate Azure Naming Convention. A well-designed Azure naming convention isn’t just a “nice-to-have”, it’s the glue that holds your cloud environment together. By adopting a consistent, logical, and scalable approach to naming, you set the stage for better collaboration, easier troubleshooting, streamlined automation, and stronger governance. The time you invest now in defining and enforcing these standards will pay off exponentially as your Azure footprint grows. Remember: clarity today prevents chaos tomorrow. Start small, refine as you go, and make your naming convention a living standard that evolves alongside your business needs. Did you enjoy this article? Dont forget to follow us and share this article. If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out or leave a comment below.

Max

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