Uncomplicated naming convention
Uncomplicated naming convention
May 25, 2026
Naming conventions are often overcomplicated. They assume you have ten thousand sites and a hundred thousand endpoints per site. Unfortunately this additional complexity means you will probably avoid a naming convention, after all, who needs the extra hassle when there are new new critical vulnerabilities to patch every week!
Enter the uncomplicated naming convention - a naming convention for the 90% that strips away the complexities and does one thing well - it answers four questions :
- Is this a device or a credential?
- If this is a device, where is it?
- Who is using the credential? (i.e: a human or a computer - called a service account)
- What was the original purpose that this credential was created for? Generic here is good
Forget DEV, PROD and staging for now. Just get started and you can add all the complexity you want in version 2.0!
Format
Devices:
[SITE]-[TYPE]-[###]Service Accounts:
SVC-[SYSTEM]-[PURPOSE]Site Codes
| Site | Code |
|---|---|
| Melbourne | MEL |
| Canberra | CBR |
Type Codes
| Category | Type | Code | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Workstations | Desktop / Laptop | WS | BLR-WS-001 |
| Servers | General server | SRV | BLR-SRV-001 |
| Network | Router | RTR | BLR-RTR-001 |
| Switch | SW | BLR-SW-001 | |
| Wireless AP | AP | BLR-AP-001 | |
| Firewall | FW | BLR-FW-001 | |
| Other | Printer / MFD | PRN | BLR-PRN-001 |
| NAS / Storage | NAS | BLR-NAS-001 |
Service Accounts
Format: SVC-[SYSTEM]-[PURPOSE]
| Part | Description | Example values |
|---|---|---|
SVC | Fixed prefix — always present | — |
SYSTEM | The application or platform | AD, SQL, BACKUP, MONITOR |
PURPOSE | What it actually does | SYNC, DEPLOY,MONITOR |
Examples:
| Account | Meaning |
|---|---|
SVC-ENTRA-SUBLIME | Active Directory sync account |
SVC-SQL-BACKUP | SQL Server backup account |
SVC-WEBSITE-MONITOR | Monitoring platform read-only account |
SVC-SALESFORCE-SYNC | Deployment account for production |
Naming Rules
- Devices always use
SITE-TYPE-### - Service accounts always start with
SVCand never have a site code - Site codes come from the approved list — don’t invent new ones
- Numbers count up from
001per site and type — check the list before assigning - Never reuse a name, even if a device is retired