How to name resources in Azure?

In this article, we’ll look at rules, recommendations, and examples for naming resource names in Azure.

It is important to effectively call resource names from information about each resource, to avoid conflicts, and to ensure readability and understandability of the resources. A good resource name allows you to quickly identify the organization, department, resource type, environment, Azure region, instance, etc.

1. Azure naming rules
2. Naming options for constructing resource names
3. Scope
4. Examples of resource names

Azure naming rules

For Azure resources, Microsoft recommends following the following naming conventions:

• Use names in lowercase and separated by hyphens
• Use letters and numbers, with a maximum of 24 characters.
• Do not use special characters, such as @, #, $, %, &, *, etc.
• Do not use Azure reserved words, such as “Azure”, “Microsoft”, etc.
• Do not use names similar to Azure services, such as “SQL”, “Storage”, etc.
• Use a descriptive and meaningful name for the resource, such as “my-azure-resource” or “my-app-resource”.
• If a prefix or suffix is ​​used, make sure it is clear and consistent, such as “app-” or “-prod”.

These conventions help avoid conflicts and maintain the organization and readability of resources on the Azure platform.

Naming rules and restrictions for Azure resources

Naming options for constructing resource names

Here is a list of sample naming options that are useful when constructing resource names. For each type of resource you can use some naming options or others. The intent is to have a standard naming convention that is easy to follow, concise, and useful for recognizing information that is relevant to the created resource.

The order in which the naming options should appear is important.

Scope

Resource names must be unique within their scope.

• Global – Unique across the Azure platform. For example, PaaS services with public endpoints or virtual machine DNS labels.
• Resource Group – Unique within the resource group. For example, a virtual network has a resource group scope, which means that there can only be one network called  vnet-prod-westus-001 in a given resource group. Other resource groups might have their own virtual network called vnet-prod-westus-001
• Resource attribute : Unique within the parent resource. For example: Subnets are scoped to virtual networks so each subnet in a virtual network must have a different name.

Examples of resource names

These are examples with naming considerations, but will vary by organization.

General

networking

Compute and Web

Databases

Storage

AI and machine learning

Analytics and IoT

Integration

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important to take into account some nomenclature considerations. These include using unique and easily identifiable names for each resource, following naming rules and limitations specific to each type of resource, and maintaining a logical and consistent naming structure to facilitate resource organization and management. It is also important to consider integration with other systems and the possibility of future changes in the nomenclature.