​

Resource Naming Convention

​

Introduction

Establishing consistent and well-defined naming conventions is critical for maintaining clarity, organization, and effective management of AWS resources. A solid naming strategy ensures:

• Easy identification and management of resources.

• Proper cost allocation.

• Compliance with regulatory requirements.

​

Key Considerations

​

Document Your Convention

1. Create a clear guide that outlines naming standards and tag usage.

2. Share this guide with your team to ensure consistent application.

3. Maintain version control to track changes and provide historical context.

​

Maintain Consistency

1. Apply naming conventions uniformly across all AWS resources.

2. Use tools like Service Control Policies (SCPs) and Tag Policies to enforce standards.

​

Practical Guidelines

​

Abbreviations

1. Standardize Abbreviations: Ensure all abbreviations are documented and understood.

2. Use unique identifiers (e.g., timestamps or sequence numbers) to prevent duplication.

3. Avoid ambiguous abbreviations to reduce confusion.

​

Leverage Constraints

1. Follow service-specific naming rules, such as character limits and allowed symbols.

2. Use prefixes (e.g., aws:) to protect tags and add clarity.

​

Be Descriptive

1. Choose names that clearly indicate the resource’s function or purpose (e.g., finance-sql-prod).

2. Avoid generic names like server-1 or bucket-2.

​

Hierarchical Organization

1. Reflect relationships between resources using hierarchical structures.

   • Example: appname-resourcetype-env

2. Include versioning or timestamps for tracking (e.g., app-v1-prod).

​

Avoid Redundancies

1. Skip obvious repetitions in names where the context is already clear.

   • Example: Avoid ec2-instance-instance-prod.

​

Readability Best Practices

1. Use Lowercase Characters: AWS recommends lowercase names to avoid case sensitivity issues.

2. Hyphens or Underscores: Separate words with - or _ for clarity, depending on service constraints.

3. Avoid Special Characters: Refrain from using unsupported symbols or spaces.

​

Iteration and Flexibility

1. Revise your naming conventions as needs evolve.

2. Strike a balance between consistency and adaptability to future changes.

​

Examples

​

Simple Naming Example

• Basic: prod-db-server

​

Advanced Naming Example

• Complex: {app}-{resource}-{team}-{environment}

  • Example: myapp-s3-storage-prod

​

Resources

• AWS Naming Guidelines

• AWS Tagging Best Practices

• AWS Service Control Policies