Name Deployment Nodes Consistently

Overview

Establishes systematic, scannable naming conventions for all deployment infrastructure identifiers: VMs follow {Environment}{ServiceName}Vm, zones use {Tier}Tier or {Function}Zone, and environments are single-word PascalCase. Consistent naming makes infrastructure readable without explanations.

When to Use

Naming a new VM before creating it in a deployment file
Naming a new network zone or environment
Reviewing existing names for consistency before adding new ones
Onboarding a new project to the shared naming convention

REQUIRED BACKGROUND: See model-deployment-infrastructure skill for complete hierarchy, descriptions, and infrastructure requirements.

Quick Reference

Element	Pattern	Examples
VM	`{Env}{Service}Vm`	`ProdApigwVm`, `StagingApiVm`
Zone (layer)	`{Tier}Tier`	`AppTier`, `DataTier`, `ProcTier`
Zone (function)	`{Function}Zone`	`SecZone`, `InfraZone`
Environment	`{Env}` (PascalCase)	`Prod`, `Staging`, `Dev`, `Test`
External node	`{Provider}{Service}`	`VirusTotalService`, `AwsS3Bucket`

Keywords: naming, convention, VM, zone, environment, identifier, deployment, consistency

Naming Formula

Virtual Machines (VMs)

Pattern: {Environment}{ServiceName}Vm (PascalCase)

// Examples following pattern
ProdApigwVm      // prod + apigw + vm = production API gateway VM
ProdUploadVm     // prod + upload + vm = production upload service VM
ProdWorkerVm     // prod + worker + vm = production processing worker VM
StagingApiVm     // staging + api + vm = staging API VM
DevDatabaseVm    // dev + database + vm = development database VM

Rules:

Environment prefix: Prod, Staging, Dev, Test
Service name: Meaningful abbreviation (Apigw, Upload, Worker, Database, Queue)
Suffix: Always Vm for consistency
FQN identifier: Use lowercase kebab-case: prod-apigw-vm, prod-upload-vm

Zones (Network Segments / VLAN Regions)

Pattern: {Tier}Tier or {Function}Zone (PascalCase)

// Tier-based naming (for layered architectures)
Dmz          // Demilitarized Zone (edge security)
AppTier      // Application tier (microservices)
ProcTier     // Processing tier (async workers)
DataTier     // Data tier (databases, storage)

// Function-based naming (for specialized infrastructure)
SecZone      // Security & monitoring
InfraZone    // Backup & disaster recovery
NetworkZone  // Load balancing & CDN

Rules:

Use Tier suffix for layered architecture (App, Proc, Data, Dmz)
Use Zone suffix for functional groupings (Sec, Infra, Network)
Each zone should have a description with VLAN details
Never abbreviate inconsistently (not AppT or ProcZone)

Environments

Pattern: {Environment} (PascalCase)

Prod       // Production (customer-facing)
Staging    // Staging (pre-production testing)
Dev        // Development (local testing)
Test       // Test (automated testing)

External Nodes

Pattern: {Provider}{Service} (PascalCase)

VirusTotalService     // SaaS antivirus provider
AwsS3Bucket           // AWS cloud storage
GoogleAnalyticsApi    // Google SaaS analytics
DatadogMonitoring     // SaaS monitoring platform

Rich Zone Descriptions with Network Details

Always include network and infrastructure specifications in zone descriptions:

AppTier = Zone "Application Tier (VLAN 101: 10.1.0.0/24)" {
  description """
    Microservices deployment zone
    
    | Property | Value |
    |:---------|:------|
    | VLAN | 101 |
    | Network | 10.1.0.0/24 |
    | Gateway | 10.1.0.1 |
    | Firewall | DMZ → AppTier (ingress 443) |
    | Firewall | AppTier → DataTier (egress 27017, 9000) |
    | Purpose | Production microservices |
  """
  
  // VMs in this zone
  ProdUploadVm = Node_Vm "prod-upload-vm" { ... }
  ProdRetrievalVm = Node_Vm "prod-retrieval-vm" { ... }
}

Zone Description Template

Zone SomeTier "Human Readable Zone Name (VLAN N: CIDR)" {
  description """
    Brief purpose of this zone
    
    | Property | Value |
    |:---------|:------|
    | VLAN | 101 |
    | Network | 10.1.0.0/24 |
    | Gateway | 10.1.0.1 |
    | Firewall Rules | List relevant rules |
    | Purpose | What runs here |
    | Tags | #Production #Networking |
  """
}

VM Description with Infrastructure Specs

Use Markdown tables to make deployment specs scannable and self-documenting. Put network interfaces first (eth0, eth1) and avoid repeating the hostname (it's already in the element title).

ProdUploadVm = Node_Vm "prod-upload-vm" {
  #Deployment
  technology "Node.js + Docker"
  
  description """
    File upload handler and validation service (fail-fast validation)
    
    | Property | Value |
    |:---------|:------|
    | eth0 | 10.1.0.12/24 |
    | OS | Ubuntu 22.04 LTS |
    | CPU | 2 vCPU |
    | RAM | 4 GB |
    | Disk | 100 GB SSD |
    | Port | 3001 |
    | Protocol | HTTP/2 |
    | Container | Docker |
    | Monitoring | Prometheus metrics on 9090 |
    | Backup | Daily snapshots |
  """
  
  uploadApp = Node_App "Upload Service" {
    instanceOf corePlatform.uploadService
  }
}

VM Description Template

Node_Vm "vm-name" {
  technology "Runtime + Tools"
  
  description """
    Human-readable purpose and role
    
    | Property | Value |
    |:---------|:------|
    | eth0 | 10.x.x.y/24 |
    | OS | Ubuntu 22.04 LTS |
    | CPU | 2 vCPU |
    | RAM | 4 GB |
    | Port | 3001 |
    | Container | Docker |
    | Monitoring | Port 9090 |
  """
}

Complete Example: Multi-Tier Deployment

deployment {
  Prod = Node_Environment 'Production Datacenter - EU' {
    #Production
    
    // Edge security zone
    Zone Dmz "Network DMZ (VLAN 100: 10.0.0.0/24)" {
      description """
        Perimeter security zone with TLS termination
        
        | Property | Value |
        |:---------|:------|
        | VLAN | 100 |
        | Network | 10.0.0.0/24 |
        | Gateway | 10.0.0.1 |
        | Purpose | Edge services |
      """
      
      ProdApigwVm = Node_Vm "prod-apigw-vm" {
        technology "Kong / API Gateway"
        description """
          Edge API gateway terminates TLS and routes
          
          | Property | Value |
          |:---------|:------|
          | IP | 10.0.0.10/24 |
          | OS | Ubuntu 22.04 LTS |
          | CPU | 4 vCPU |
          | RAM | 8 GB |
          | Port | 443 |
        """
        
        apiApp = Node_App "API Gateway" {
          instanceOf corePlatform.api
        }
      }
    }
    
    // Application services tier
    AppTier = Zone "Application Tier (VLAN 101: 10.1.0.0/24)" {
      description """
        Microservices deployment zone
        
        | Property | Value |
        |:---------|:------|
        | VLAN | 101 |
        | Network | 10.1.0.0/24 |
        | Gateway | 10.1.0.1 |
      """
      
      ProdUploadVm = Node_Vm "prod-upload-vm" {
        description """
          | IP | 10.1.0.12/24 |
          | Port | 3001 |
        """
        uploadApp = Node_App "Upload Service" {
          instanceOf corePlatform.uploadService
        }
      }
      
      ProdRetrievalVm = Node_Vm "prod-retrieval-vm" {
        description """
          | IP | 10.1.0.13/24 |
          | Port | 3002 |
        """
        retrievalApp = Node_App "Retrieval Service" {
          instanceOf corePlatform.retrievalService
        }
      }
    }
    
    // Processing tier
    ProcTier = Zone "Processing Tier (VLAN 102: 10.2.0.0/24)" {
      ProdQueueVm = Node_Vm "prod-queue-vm" {
        description "| IP | 10.2.0.14/24 | | Port | 5672 |"
        queueApp = Node_App "Message Broker" {
          instanceOf corePlatform.jobQueue
        }
      }
      
      ProdWorkerVm = Node_Vm "prod-worker-vm" {
        description "| IP | 10.2.0.15/24 |"
        workerApp = Node_App "Processing Worker" {
          instanceOf corePlatform.worker
        }
      }
    }
    
    // Data tier
    DataTier = Zone "Data Tier (VLAN 103: 10.3.0.0/24)" {
      ProdDatabaseVm = Node_Vm "prod-database-vm" {
        description "| IP | 10.3.0.16/24 | | Port | 27017 |"
        dbApp = Node_App "Database" {
          instanceOf corePlatform.documentDb
        }
      }
      
      ProdStorageVm = Node_Vm "prod-storage-vm" {
        description "| IP | 10.3.0.17/24 | | Port | 9000 |"
        storageApp = Node_App "Object Storage" {
          instanceOf corePlatform.objectStorage
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Naming Consistency Checklist

VMs follow {Environment}{Service}Vm pattern (e.g., ProdUploadVm)
FQN identifiers use kebab-case (e.g., prod-upload-vm)
Zones use {Tier} or {Function}Zone naming
Zone descriptions include VLAN number and CIDR block
VM descriptions include table with IP, OS, CPU, RAM, Port
External services named {Provider}{Service} (e.g., VirusTotalService)
All zones have descriptive purpose in comments
All VMs have technology specified
Each VM has one Node_App with instanceOf linking to model container

Common Mistakes

❌ Don't	✅ Do	Why
`ProdApiVM`	`ProdApigwVm`	Inconsistent casing (VM vs Vm)
`produploadvm` variable	`ProdUploadVm`	Variable names should be PascalCase
`AppServers` zone	`AppTier` zone	Zone names should be singular, use Tier/Zone suffix
No VLAN in description	`VLAN 101: 10.1.0.0/24` in description	Networks require VLAN/CIDR for ops
`dev-upload-vm` for production	`prod-upload-vm`	Environment prefix must match node
Generic name `Vm1`, `Server1`	`ProdUploadVm`	Names should indicate purpose

Related Skills

model-deployment - Deployment structure and hierarchy
write-rich-descriptions - Detailed markdown tables in element descriptions
structure-deployment-tiers - Organizing zones into logical tiers

name-deployment-nodes

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