A lot of our clients which are mostly internal IT teams often ask me where I get the abbreviations I use for Azure and Microsoft 365 resources. These abbreviations help keep things simple, efficient, and easy to understand, especially when managing cloud environments. The answer is straightforward: I rely on a set of best practices provided by Microsoft, specifically from their Cloud Adoption Framework. ☁️
Microsoft has published a comprehensive list of resource abbreviations to help standardize naming conventions in Azure. These recommendations are designed to ensure that resource names remain concise, while still being informative and adhering to the platform's requirements. Proper naming conventions not only improve clarity but also make it easier to manage and scale your cloud infrastructure.
In the following sections, I will share some of my commonly used Azure and M365 abbreviations that I use as well as some very very simple examples which are commonly seen in SMBs.
Additionally there is an open source tool, which helps you generate those names rather than keep reading the docs. 👀
Computing and Web
| Resource | Abbreviation |
|---|---|
| Cloud service | cld |
| Communication Services | acs |
| Disk encryption set | des |
| Function app | func |
| Gallery | gal |
| Hosting environment | host |
| Image template | it |
| Managed disk (OS) | osdisk |
| Managed disk (data) | disk |
| Notification Hubs | ntf |
| Notification Hubs namespace | ntfns |
| Proximity placement group | ppg |
| Restore point collection | rpc |
| Snapshot | snap |
| Static web app | stapp |
| Virtual machine | vm |
| Virtual machine scale set | vmss |
| Virtual machine maintenance configuration | mc |
| VM storage account | stvm |
| Web app | app |
Example 🔎
vm-file01
app-azurenamingtool
Databases
| Resource | Abbreviation |
|---|---|
| Azure SQL Database server | sql |
| Azure SQL database | sqldb |
| Azure SQL Elastic Job agent | sqlja |
| Azure SQL Elastic Pool | sqlep |
| MariaDB server | maria |
| MariaDB database | mariadb |
| MySQL database | mysql |
| PostgreSQL database | psql |
| SQL Server Stretch Database | sqlstrdb |
| SQL Managed Instance | sqlmi |
Example 🔎
sql-meta01
mysql-quickbook01
Management and Governance
| Resource | Abbreviation |
|---|---|
| Automation account | aa |
| Azure Policy definition | <descriptive> |
| Application Insights | appi |
| Azure Monitor action group | ag |
| Azure Monitor data collection rule | dcr |
| Azure Monitor alert processing rule | apr |
| Blueprint (planned for deprecation) | bp |
| Blueprint assignment (planned for deprecation) | bpa |
| Data collection endpoint | dce |
| Log Analytics workspace | log |
| Log Analytics query packs | pack |
| Management group | mg |
| Microsoft Purview instance | pview |
| Resource group | rg |
| Template specs name | ts |
Example 🔎
rg-prod
rg-dev
log-bgadmin
Networking
| Resource | Abbreviation |
|---|---|
| Application gateway | agw |
| Application security group (ASG) | asg |
| CDN profile | cdnp |
| CDN endpoint | cdne |
| Connections | con |
| DNS | <DNS domain name> |
| DNS forwarding ruleset | dnsfrs |
| DNS private resolver | dnspr |
| DNS private resolver inbound endpoint | in |
| DNS private resolver outbound endpoint | out |
| DNS zone | <DNS domain name> |
| Firewall | afw |
| Firewall policy | afwp |
| ExpressRoute circuit | erc |
| ExpressRoute direct | erd |
| ExpressRoute gateway | ergw |
| Front Door (Standard/Premium) profile | afd |
| Front Door (Standard/Premium) endpoint | fde |
| Front Door firewall policy | fdfp |
| Front Door (classic) | afd |
| IP group | ipg |
| Load balancer (internal) | lbi |
| Load balancer (external) | lbe |
| Load balancer rule | rule |
| Local network gateway | lgw |
| NAT gateway | ng |
| Network interface (NIC) | nic |
| Network security group (NSG) | nsg |
| Network security group (NSG) security rules | nsgsr |
| Network Watcher | nw |
| Private Link | pl |
| Private endpoint | pep |
| Public IP address | pi |
Example 🔎
nsg-vdpool01
pi-vdpool01 (as well seen as pip-vdpool01)
Security
| Resource | Abbreviation |
|---|---|
| Azure Bastion | bas |
| Key vault | kv |
| Key Vault Managed HSM | kvmhsm |
| Managed identity | id |
| SSH key | sshkey |
| VPN Gateway | vpng |
| VPN connection | vcn |
| VPN site | vst |
| Web Application Firewall (WAF) policy | waf |
| Web Application Firewall (WAF) policy rule group | wafrg |
Example 🔎
vpng-we-prod01
Storage
| Resource | Abbreviation |
|---|---|
| Azure StorSimple | ssimp |
| Backup Vault name | bvault |
| Backup Vault policy | bkpol |
| File share | share |
| Storage account | st |
| Storage Sync Service name | sss |
Example 🔎
bvault-prod01
VDI
| Resource | Abbreviation |
|---|---|
| Virtual desktop host pool | vdpool |
| Virtual desktop application group | vdag |
| Virtual desktop workspace | vdws |
| Virtual desktop scaling plan | vdscaling |
Example 🔎
vdpool-prod01
AzureNamingTool
Naming Azure resources consistently can be a challenging task, especially with a wide range of services and abbreviations to keep track of. However, to make your life easier, there's an amazing tool that can help automate and simplify the naming process: AzureNamingTool.
The AzureNamingTool is an open-source solution developed by Microsoft's Patterns & Practices team. It allows you to:
- Standardize your Azure resource names based on best practices.
- Automate naming conventions to ensure consistency across your organization.
- Customize naming rules to match your internal policies.
- Export naming templates for use in your infrastructure deployments.
Benefits of Using AzureNamingTool:
✅ Ensures compliance with Azure naming standards
✅ Reduces human error in naming resources
✅ Easy to deploy and configure
✅ Supports a wide variety of Azure services and abbreviations
How to Get Started:
You can find the AzureNamingTool on GitHub:
👉 https://github.com/mspnp/AzureNamingTool
There is now an excellent how to Video from Azure Academy which guides you through the process of generating appropriate names for your resources :
