Azure Naming Conventions

azure
naming
conventions
best-practices
cloud-adoption-framework
Standardized naming convention for Azure resources following Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework best practices
Author

Dario Airoldi

Published

July 2, 2025

Modified

November 3, 2025

Table of Contents

  1. Overview
  2. Core Naming Pattern
  3. Environment Identifiers
  4. Region Codes
  5. Azure Resource Types and Naming Rules
  6. Practical Examples
  7. Special Naming Considerations
  8. Resource Tagging Strategy
  9. Implementation Guidelines
  10. Other Documented Practices
  11. Quick Reference

Overview

This document establishes a standardized naming convention for Azure resources based on the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) best practices. The naming pattern provides consistency across Azure subscriptions, environments, and regions while maintaining compliance with Azure-specific naming restrictions.

Purpose:

  • Ensure consistent resource naming across all Azure deployments
  • Enable easy identification of resource ownership, environment, and location
  • Facilitate automation, cost tracking, and resource management
  • Align with Microsoft recommended practices

Document Information:

Core Naming Pattern

Standard Pattern

📋 Pattern: {workload}-{environment}-{resourcetype}-{region}-{instance}

Components:

Component Description Format Example
{workload} Application or workload name lowercase, alphanumeric, hyphens samples, ecommerce, hr-portal
{environment} Deployment environment 2-6 letter code dev, test, prod, testmc
{resourcetype} Azure resource type 2-3 letter abbreviation rg, app, sql, akv
{region} Azure region 2-4 letter code weu, eus, sea
{instance} Instance number 2-digit zero-padded 01, 02, 03

Understanding the Pattern

samples-testmc-rg-weu-01
   │      │     │   │   │
   │      │     │   │   └─ Instance number (01)
   │      │     │   └───── Region (weu = West Europe)
   │      │     └───────── Resource type (rg = Resource Group)
   │      └─────────────── Environment (testmc)
   └────────────────────── Workload (samples)

Why This Pattern?

Aligned with Microsoft CAF:

Benefits:

  1. Clear Environment Segregation - Easy to identify which environment a resource belongs to
  2. Multi-Region Support - Region identifier enables global deployments
  3. Resource Type Visibility - Quick identification of resource type
  4. Scalability - Instance numbers support multiple deployments
  5. Automation-Friendly - Structured format simplifies scripting and IaC

Environment Identifiers

Standard environment codes used across all resources:

Environment Code Description Typical Use
Development dev Development environment Local/team development
Test test Testing environment QA and integration testing
Staging stg Pre-production staging Production-like testing
Production prod Production environment Live workloads
Test MC testmc Microsoft Customer test Customer-specific testing
Test Personal testpers Personal learning Individual learning/POC
Test AB testab Customer A/B testing A/B testing scenarios

Custom Environments:

  • Format: test{name} or abbreviation
  • Keep codes short (2-6 characters) for name length compliance
  • Document all custom environments in this section

Region Codes

Standard Azure region abbreviations (2-4 letters):

Americas

Region Code Region Code
East US eus East US 2 eus2
Central US cus North Central US ncus
South Central US scus West Central US wcus
West US wus West US 2 wus2
West US 3 wus3 Canada Central cac
Canada East cae Brazil South brs
Brazil Southeast brse

Europe

Region Code Region Code
North Europe neu West Europe weu
UK South uks UK West ukw
France Central frc France South frs
Germany West Central gwc Germany North gn
Norway East noe Norway West now
Switzerland North swn Switzerland West sww
Sweden Central swc Poland Central plc
Italy North itn Spain Central spc

Asia Pacific

Region Code Region Code
East Asia ea Southeast Asia sea
Japan East jpe Japan West jpw
Australia East aue Australia Southeast ause
Australia Central auc Australia Central 2 auc2
India Central inc India South ins
India West inw Korea Central krc
Korea South krs

Middle East & Africa

Region Code Region Code
UAE North uaen UAE Central uaec
South Africa North san South Africa West saw
Qatar Central qac Israel Central ilc

Note: Region codes can be omitted for resource group-scoped resources in single-region deployments, but are recommended for globally scoped resources.

Azure Resource Types and Naming Rules

⚠️ Important: Each Azure resource type has specific naming restrictions. Always verify your names comply with Azure requirements.

Core Infrastructure

Resource Type Abbreviation Scope Length Valid Characters Example
Resource Group rg Subscription 1-90 Alphanumerics, underscores, parentheses, hyphens, periods samples-testmc-rg-weu-01
Virtual Network vnet Resource Group 2-64 Alphanumerics, underscores, periods, hyphens samples-dev-vnet-weu-01
Subnet snet Virtual Network 1-80 Alphanumerics, underscores, periods, hyphens samples-dev-snet-weu-01
Network Security Group nsg Resource Group 1-80 Alphanumerics, underscores, periods, hyphens samples-dev-nsg-weu-01

Storage Services

Resource Type Abbreviation Scope Length Valid Characters Example
Storage Account st Global 3-24 Lowercase letters and numbers samplestestmcstweu01
File Share share Storage Account 3-63 Lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens samples-testmc-share-weu-01

Note: Storage account names cannot contain hyphens and must be globally unique. Use concatenated format without hyphens.

Data Services

Resource Type Abbreviation Scope Length Valid Characters Example
App Configuration appcs Global 5-50 Alphanumerics and hyphens samples-testmc-appcs-weu-01
Cosmos DB Account (NoSQL) cosno Global 3-44 Lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens samples-prod-cosno-eus-01
Cosmos DB Account (MongoDB) cosmon Global 3-44 Lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens samples-prod-cosmon-eus-01
Cosmos DB Account (generic) cosmos Global 3-44 Lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens samples-prod-cosmos-eus-01
SQL Server sql Global 1-63 Lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens samples-prod-sql-eus-01
SQL Database sqldb SQL Server 1-128 Various characters allowed samples-prod-sqldb-eus-01
Azure Cache for Redis redis Global 1-63 Alphanumerics and hyphens samples-dev-redis-weu-01
MySQL Server mysql Global 3-63 Lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens samples-dev-mysql-weu-01
PostgreSQL Server psql Global 3-63 Lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens samples-dev-psql-weu-01

Messaging Services

Resource Type Abbreviation Scope Length Valid Characters Example
Service Bus Namespace sbns Global 6-50 Alphanumerics and hyphens, start with letter samples-prod-sbns-eus-01
Event Hub Namespace evhns Global 6-50 Alphanumerics and hyphens, start with letter samples-prod-evhns-eus-01
Event Hub evh Event Hub Namespace 1-256 Alphanumerics, periods, hyphens, underscores samples-prod-evh-eus-01
Event Grid Topic evgt Resource Group 3-50 Alphanumerics and hyphens samples-dev-evgt-weu-01
Event Grid System Topic egst Resource Group 3-50 Alphanumerics and hyphens samples-dev-egst-weu-01

Compute Services

Resource Type Abbreviation Scope Length Valid Characters Example
Virtual Machine vm Resource Group 1-15 (Win), 1-64 (Linux) Limited special chars samples-dev-vm-weu-01
App Service Plan asp Resource Group 1-60 Alphanumerics and hyphens samples-prod-asp-eus-01
Web App app Global 2-60 Alphanumerics and hyphens samples-prod-app-eus-01
Function App func Global 2-60 Alphanumerics and hyphens samples-prod-func-eus-01
Container App ca Resource Group 2-32 Lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens samples-dev-ca-weu-01
Container Apps Environment cae Resource Group 2-32 Lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens samples-dev-cae-weu-01
Container Registry cr Global 5-50 Alphanumerics only samplesprodcreus01

Note: Function apps use func as the official Microsoft abbreviation.

AI and Cognitive Services

Resource Type Abbreviation Scope Length Valid Characters Example
OpenAI Service oai Global 2-64 Alphanumerics, underscores, periods, hyphens samples-prod-oai-eus-01
Azure AI Services (multi-service) ais Global 2-64 Alphanumerics, underscores, periods, hyphens samples-dev-ais-weu-01
AI Search srch Global 2-60 Lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens samples-prod-srch-eus-01
Azure Machine Learning Workspace mlw Resource Group 2-260 Alphanumerics and hyphens samples-prod-mlw-eus-01

Note: Microsoft changed naming - “Azure Cognitive Search” is now “AI Search” with abbreviation srch. “Cognitive Services” multi-service accounts use ais.

Monitoring & Observability Services

Resource Type Abbreviation Scope Length Valid Characters Example
Application Insights appi Resource Group 1-260 Alphanumerics, hyphens, periods, underscores, parentheses samples-testmc-appi-itn-01
Log Analytics Workspace log Resource Group 4-63 Alphanumerics and hyphens samples-prod-log-eus-01
Azure Monitor Action Group ag Resource Group 1-260 Alphanumerics, hyphens, periods, underscores samples-prod-ag-eus-01
Data Collection Rule dcr Resource Group 1-64 Alphanumerics, hyphens, underscores samples-prod-dcr-eus-01
Data Collection Endpoint dce Resource Group 1-64 Alphanumerics, hyphens, underscores samples-prod-dce-eus-01

Note: Application Insights uses appi and Log Analytics uses log per Microsoft CAF official abbreviations.

Container Orchestration

Resource Type Abbreviation Scope Length Valid Characters Example
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) aks Resource Group 1-63 Alphanumerics, hyphens, underscores samples-prod-aks-eus-01
AKS System Node Pool npsystem AKS Cluster 1-12 Lowercase letters and numbers npsystem
AKS User Node Pool np AKS Cluster 1-12 Lowercase letters and numbers np01
Container Instance ci Resource Group 1-63 Lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens samples-dev-ci-weu-01

Note: AKS cluster names should be descriptive but concise due to the 63-character limit and DNS name requirements.

Analytics & Data Platform

Resource Type Abbreviation Scope Length Valid Characters Example
Azure Data Factory adf Global 3-63 Alphanumerics and hyphens samples-prod-adf-eus-01
Azure Synapse Analytics Workspace synw Global 1-50 Alphanumerics and hyphens samples-prod-synw-eus-01
Azure Databricks Workspace dbw Resource Group 3-64 Alphanumerics, underscores, hyphens samples-prod-dbw-eus-01
Microsoft Fabric Capacity fc Global 1-256 Alphanumerics and spaces samples-prod-fc-eus-01
Stream Analytics Job asa Resource Group 3-63 Alphanumerics, hyphens, underscores samples-prod-asa-eus-01
Data Lake Storage Gen2 dls Global 3-24 Lowercase letters and numbers samplesproddles01

Note: Data Lake Storage Gen2 follows the same naming constraints as Storage Accounts (no hyphens, lowercase only). Fabric Workspace is not officially documented, so Fabric Capacity (fc) is used.

Security Services

Resource Type Abbreviation Scope Length Valid Characters Example
Key Vault kv Global 3-24 Alphanumerics and hyphens samples-prod-kv-eus-01
Managed Identity mi or id Resource Group 3-128 Alphanumerics, underscores, hyphens samples-prod-id-eus-01

Note: Microsoft’s official abbreviation for Key Vault is kv and for Managed Identity is id.

Practical Examples

💡 Real-world examples showing how the naming convention applies to common scenarios.

Example 1: Simple Web Application (Single Region)

Resource Group:      samples-prod-rg-eus-01
App Service Plan:    samples-prod-asp-eus-01
Web App:             samples-prod-app-eus-01
SQL Server:          samples-prod-sql-eus-01
SQL Database:        samples-prod-sqldb-eus-01
Key Vault:           samples-prod-kv-eus-01
Storage Account:     samplesprodsteus01

Example 2: Multi-Region Deployment

# West Europe (Primary)
samples-prod-rg-weu-01
samples-prod-app-weu-01
samples-prod-sql-weu-01
samples-prod-cosno-weu-01

# East US (Secondary)
samples-prod-rg-eus-01
samples-prod-app-eus-01
samples-prod-sql-eus-01
samples-prod-cosno-eus-01

Example 3: Development Environment

Resource Group:      samples-dev-rg-weu-01
Container App Env:   samples-dev-cae-weu-01
Container App:       samples-dev-ca-weu-01
Cosmos DB (NoSQL):   samples-dev-cosno-weu-01
Key Vault:           samples-dev-kv-weu-01
App Configuration:   samples-dev-appcs-weu-01

Example 4: Messaging Architecture

Resource Group:        samples-prod-rg-eus-01
Service Bus:           samples-prod-sbns-eus-01
Event Hub Namespace:   samples-prod-evhns-eus-01
Event Hub:             samples-prod-evh-eus-01
Event Grid Topic:      samples-prod-evgt-eus-01
Function App:          samples-prod-func-eus-01

Example 5: AI/ML Workload

Resource Group:      samples-dev-rg-weu-01
OpenAI Service:      samples-dev-oai-weu-01
AI Search:           samples-dev-srch-weu-01
AI Services:         samples-dev-ais-weu-01
Storage Account:     samplesdevstweu01
Container Registry:  samplesdevcrweu01

Example 6: Kubernetes (AKS) Deployment

Resource Group:           samples-prod-rg-eus-01
AKS Cluster:              samples-prod-aks-eus-01
Container Registry:       samplesprodcreus01
Log Analytics:            samples-prod-log-eus-01
Application Insights:     samples-prod-appi-eus-01
Key Vault:                samples-prod-kv-eus-01

Example 7: Data Analytics Platform

Resource Group:           samples-prod-rg-eus-01
Data Factory:             samples-prod-adf-eus-01
Synapse Workspace:        samples-prod-synw-eus-01
Data Lake Storage:        samplesproddlseus01
Databricks Workspace:     samples-prod-dbw-eus-01
Stream Analytics Job:     samples-prod-asa-eus-01
Log Analytics:            samples-prod-log-eus-01

Example 8: Microservices with Observability

Resource Group:           samples-prod-rg-weu-01
Container Apps Env:       samples-prod-cae-weu-01
Container App (API):      samples-prod-ca-weu-01
Container App (Worker):   samples-prod-ca-weu-02
Application Insights:     samples-prod-appi-weu-01
Log Analytics:            samples-prod-log-weu-01
Service Bus:              samples-prod-sbns-weu-01
Redis Cache:              samples-prod-redis-weu-01

Example 9: Microsoft Fabric Workspace

Resource Group:           samples-prod-rg-eus-01
Fabric Capacity:          samples-prod-fc-eus-01
Data Lake Storage:        samplesproddlseus01
Key Vault:                samples-prod-kv-eus-01

Special Naming Considerations

⚠️ Critical constraints that affect resource naming in Azure.

Global Uniqueness Requirements

Resources with global scope need unique names across all Azure:

  • Storage accounts
  • Web apps, Function apps, API apps
  • Key Vaults
  • Cosmos DB accounts
  • SQL servers
  • Service Bus namespaces
  • Event Hub namespaces
  • Container registries
  • AI Search services
  • OpenAI services

Strategy:

  • Include region codes for geographic uniqueness
  • Use environment identifiers to differentiate deployments
  • Consider adding organization/workload-specific prefixes

Character Restrictions

Resource Type Special Restrictions
Storage Accounts No hyphens, lowercase only, 3-24 characters
Container Registry Alphanumerics only, 5-50 characters
Virtual Machines Limited special characters, length varies by OS
Container Apps Lowercase only, 2-32 characters
Cosmos DB Lowercase only, must start with letter

Length Limitations

When names approach or exceed Azure limits:

  1. Use shorter region codes - weu instead of westeu
  2. Abbreviate workload names - hrportal → hr
  3. Shorten environment codes - testpersonal → testpers
  4. Omit region for RG-scoped resources in single-region deployments
  5. Use single-digit instances when possible

Regional Considerations

When to include region:

  • ✅ Globally scoped resources (required for tracking)
  • ✅ Multi-region deployments (critical for identification)
  • ✅ Disaster recovery scenarios
  • ⚠️ Resource group-scoped resources (optional, but recommended)

When region can be omitted:

  • Resource group-scoped resources in single-region deployments
  • Resources that don’t move between regions
  • When name length is a concern

Resource Tagging Strategy

🏷️ Complement naming with standardized resource tags for better organization and cost tracking.

Tags provide additional metadata that naming alone cannot convey:

Standard Tag Set

{
  "Environment": "prod",
  "Workload": "samples",
  "Owner": "engineering-team",
  "CostCenter": "IT-123",
  "BusinessUnit": "Engineering",
  "DataClassification": "internal",
  "Criticality": "medium",
  "CreatedDate": "2025-10-19",
  "CreatedBy": "automation",
  "Project": "learning-platform",
  "MaintenanceWindow": "weekend"
}

Tag Guidelines

  1. Required Tags (Minimum):
    • Environment - Deployment environment
    • Owner - Team or individual responsible
    • CostCenter - For cost allocation
  2. Recommended Tags:
    • Workload - Application or service name
    • BusinessUnit - Organizational unit
    • Criticality - Business impact level
  3. Optional Tags:
    • Project - Project or initiative name
    • DataClassification - Data sensitivity level
    • MaintenanceWindow - Scheduled maintenance time
    • BackupPolicy - Backup requirements
    • Compliance - Regulatory requirements

Tag Best Practices

  • Use consistent casing (PascalCase recommended)
  • Keep values short and descriptive
  • Avoid sensitive information in tags
  • Automate tag application via IaC
  • Review and update tags regularly

Implementation Guidelines

🚀 Practical steps for implementing and maintaining the naming convention.

1. Validation Checklist

Before creating any Azure resource:

2. Automation Considerations

Infrastructure as Code (IaC):

// Bicep parameter example
param workloadName string = 'samples'
param environmentName string = 'prod'
param regionCode string = 'weu'
param instanceNumber string = '01'

// Generate resource names
var resourceGroupName = '${workloadName}-${environmentName}-rg-${regionCode}-${instanceNumber}'
var appServicePlanName = '${workloadName}-${environmentName}-asp-${regionCode}-${instanceNumber}'
var webAppName = '${workloadName}-${environmentName}-app-${regionCode}-${instanceNumber}'

PowerShell Helper Function:

function New-AzureResourceName {
    param(
        [string]$Workload,
        [string]$Environment,
        [string]$ResourceType,
        [string]$Region,
        [string]$Instance = "01"
    )
    return "$Workload-$Environment-$ResourceType-$Region-$Instance"
}

# Usage
$rgName = New-AzureResourceName -Workload "samples" -Environment "prod" -ResourceType "rg" -Region "weu"

Azure CLI Validation:

# Check if resource name exists (for globally scoped resources)
az storage account check-name --name samplesprodstgweu01
az webapp show --name samples-prod-app-weu-01 --resource-group samples-prod-rg-weu-01

3. Documentation Requirements

Maintain documentation for:

  • Custom environment codes - Document any non-standard environment identifiers
  • Region code mappings - Keep region abbreviation reference updated
  • Workload registry - Track all workload names in use
  • Exceptions - Document any naming convention deviations with justification
  • Version history - Track changes to naming convention over time

4. Naming Convention Enforcement

Policy Enforcement:

  • Use Azure Policy to enforce naming patterns
  • Implement naming validation in CI/CD pipelines
  • Use Git pre-commit hooks for IaC validation

Code Review Guidelines:

  • Verify naming compliance during PR reviews
  • Check for duplicate or conflicting names
  • Validate tag completeness

Other Documented Practices

📚 Alternative naming patterns from Microsoft and industry best practices.

This section compares different naming approaches to help you understand the rationale behind our chosen pattern.

1. Microsoft CAF Resource-Type-First Pattern

Pattern: {resourcetype}-{workload}-{environment}-{region}-{instance}

Example: rg-samples-prod-weu-01

Description: Microsoft’s Cloud Adoption Framework suggests resource type as the first component, emphasizing what the resource is before its business context.

Pros:

  • ✅ Official Microsoft recommendation
  • ✅ Resources grouped by type alphabetically
  • ✅ Easy to identify resource type at a glance
  • ✅ Useful for resource type-focused operations

Cons:

  • ❌ Business context (workload/environment) not immediately visible
  • ❌ Harder to filter by workload across resource types
  • ❌ Less intuitive for application-centric teams
  • ❌ Alphabetical grouping splits related resources

When to use:

  • Infrastructure-focused teams
  • Type-based resource management
  • When resource type is more important than business context

Reference: Microsoft CAF Naming Convention

2. Workload-Type-Environment Pattern

Pattern: {workload}-{resourcetype}-{environment}-{region}-{instance}

Example: samples-rg-prod-weu-01

Description: Prioritizes workload identity, then resource type, then environment. This pattern emphasizes resource type before environment context.

Pros:

  • ✅ Workload-first approach
  • ✅ Resource types visible early in name
  • ✅ Good for multi-resource workloads
  • ✅ Simpler than full CAF pattern

Cons:

  • ❌ Environment context buried in the middle
  • ❌ Harder to filter by environment
  • ❌ Less clear environment separation
  • ❌ Not aligned with CAF recommendations

When to use:

  • Small organizations with few environments
  • Workloads with many resource types
  • Type-focused operations within workloads

3. Prefix-Based Legacy Pattern

Pattern: {prefix}-{projectname}-{environment}-{resourcetype}-{instance}

Example: samples-cosmosdb-testpersonal-cdb-01

Description: Uses a constant prefix (like “samples” or company abbreviation) followed by project name, often used in learning or multi-project environments. This was the previous version of this document.

Pros:

  • ✅ Clear organizational identity via prefix
  • ✅ Project names highly visible
  • ✅ Good for learning/sample resources
  • ✅ Easy code-to-resource traceability

Cons:

  • ❌ Not aligned with Microsoft CAF
  • ❌ Prefix adds extra length
  • ❌ Less scalable for enterprise
  • ❌ Region not included (single-region assumption)

When to use:

  • Learning environments
  • Sample/demo projects
  • Multi-project workspaces with strong identity needs
  • Single-region deployments

4. Minimalist Pattern

Pattern: {workload}-{environment}-{instance}

Example: samples-prod-01

Description: Removes resource type and region from the name entirely, relying on Azure resource types and tags for classification.

Pros:

  • ✅ Shortest possible names
  • ✅ No character limit concerns
  • ✅ Very simple to implement
  • ✅ Clean, uncluttered naming

Cons:

  • ❌ Resource type not visible in name
  • ❌ Region not identifiable
  • ❌ Requires tags for full context
  • ❌ Poor multi-region support
  • ❌ Difficult to distinguish resources without additional context

When to use:

  • Small environments with few resource types
  • Single-region deployments only
  • When name length is extremely constrained
  • Strong tagging infrastructure in place

5. Our Chosen Pattern (Workload-First with Region)

Pattern: {workload}-{environment}-{resourcetype}-{region}-{instance}

Example: samples-prod-rg-weu-01

Description: Our adopted pattern prioritizes business context (workload and environment) while maintaining resource type visibility and explicit region identification.

Pros:

  • ✅ Business context first (workload and environment)
  • ✅ Clear environment segregation
  • ✅ Excellent multi-region support
  • ✅ Resource type still visible
  • ✅ Balanced approach between CAF and practical needs
  • ✅ Scalable for enterprise use

Cons:

  • ❌ Slightly longer than minimalist approaches
  • ❌ Not 100% CAF-compliant (workload before resource type)
  • ❌ Requires documented region codes

When to use:

  • Multi-environment organizations
  • Multi-region deployments
  • Application/workload-focused teams
  • Balance between Microsoft guidance and practical needs

Why we chose this: This pattern provides the best balance between Microsoft’s recommendations and practical application development needs. It prioritizes how teams think about resources (by workload and environment first) while maintaining all critical information including region for global deployments.

Quick Reference

� Comprehensive reference for Azure naming conventions and related documentation.

Official Microsoft Documentation

Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF)

  1. Define your naming convention
    • Primary resource naming guidance
    • Recommended component order and structure
    • Best practices and examples
  2. Abbreviation examples for Azure resources
    • Official Microsoft resource type abbreviations
    • Comprehensive list of Azure services
    • Standardized abbreviation recommendations
  3. Azure Naming Tool
    • Interactive tool for generating names
    • Configurable naming patterns
    • Validation and compliance checking

Azure Well-Architected Framework

  1. Recommendations for naming and tagging
    • Operational excellence perspective
    • Tagging strategy guidance
    • Best practices for governance

Azure Service-Specific Documentation

  1. Azure resource naming restrictions
    • Complete list of naming rules per service
    • Character limitations and requirements
    • Scope and length constraints
  2. Azure regions
    • Official Azure region documentation
    • Regional availability and capabilities
    • Geography and compliance information

Quick Lookup Tables

Common Resource Type Abbreviations

Type Abbr Type Abbr Type Abbr
Resource Group rg Virtual Network vnet Storage Account st
App Service Plan asp Web App app Function App func
Container App ca SQL Server sql SQL Database sqldb
Cosmos DB (NoSQL) cosno Cosmos DB (MongoDB) cosmon Key Vault kv
Service Bus Namespace sbns Event Hub Namespace evhns Event Hub evh
Event Grid Topic evgt OpenAI oai AI Search srch
AI Services ais Virtual Machine vm Managed Identity id
Container Registry cr Redis Cache redis Network Security Group nsg
Application Insights ai or appi Log Analytics log Azure Monitor Action Group ag
AKS Cluster aks Container Instance ci Data Factory adf
Synapse Workspace synw Databricks dbw Fabric Capacity fc
Stream Analytics asa Data Lake Storage dls File Share share

Common Environment Codes

Environment Code Environment Code
Development dev Test test
Staging stg Production prod
Test MC testmc Test Personal testpers

Common Region Codes (Top 10 Used)

Region Code Region Code
West Europe weu East US eus
North Europe neu East US 2 eus2
UK South uks Central US cus
West US 2 wus2 Southeast Asia sea
Canada Central cac Australia East aue

Pattern Template

{workload}-{environment}-{resourcetype}-{region}-{instance}

Examples:
samples-prod-rg-weu-01        (Resource Group)
samples-prod-app-weu-01       (Web App)
samples-prod-sql-eus-01       (SQL Server)
samples-dev-cdb-weu-01        (Cosmos DB)
samplesprodstgweu01           (Storage Account - no hyphens)

Validation Checklist

Document Owner: Engineering Team
Next Review: January 19, 2026
Version History:

  • 2.0 - Updated to CAF-aligned pattern (October 19, 2025)
  • 1.0 - Initial creation (July 2, 2025)