Microsoft Azure interview questions along with their answers that might be asked in top multinational companies (MNCs):
- What is Microsoft Azure, and what are its key services?
- Answer: Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing platform and services offered by Microsoft that provides a wide range of cloud-based services for building, deploying, and managing applications and infrastructure. Its key services include:
- Compute: Azure offers virtual machines (VMs), containers, serverless computing (Azure Functions), and batch processing for running applications and workloads in the cloud.
- Storage: Azure provides scalable and durable cloud storage options, including Blob storage (for unstructured data), Table storage (for NoSQL data), Queue storage (for message queuing), and File storage (for file shares).
- Networking: Azure offers virtual networks (VNets), load balancers, application gateways, VPN gateways, and Azure DNS for building secure and reliable network architectures in the cloud.
- Databases: Azure provides various database services, including Azure SQL Database (managed relational database), Cosmos DB (globally distributed NoSQL database), Azure Database for MySQL, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, and SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines.
- AI and Machine Learning: Azure offers services for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), including Azure Machine Learning, Cognitive Services (e.g., Vision, Speech, Language), and Azure Bot Service.
- Analytics: Azure provides services for data analytics and big data processing, such as Azure HDInsight (managed Hadoop, Spark, and Kafka), Azure Databricks (Apache Spark-based analytics platform), and Azure Synapse Analytics (enterprise data warehouse).
- DevOps: Azure DevOps services include Azure Pipelines (CI/CD), Azure Repos (Git repositories), Azure Boards (work item tracking), Azure Artifacts (package management), and Azure Test Plans (test management).
- IoT: Azure IoT services enable IoT device connectivity, data processing, and analytics, including Azure IoT Hub, Azure IoT Central, Azure IoT Edge, and Azure Sphere for secure IoT solutions.
- Security and Identity: Azure offers services for identity and access management (Azure Active Directory), threat protection (Azure Security Center), encryption (Azure Key Vault), and compliance (Azure Policy, Azure Security Benchmark).
- Management and Monitoring: Azure provides tools and services for cloud management and monitoring, including Azure Monitor, Azure Resource Manager (ARM), Azure Automation, and Azure Advisor for optimizing Azure resources and configurations.
- Answer: Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing platform and services offered by Microsoft that provides a wide range of cloud-based services for building, deploying, and managing applications and infrastructure. Its key services include:
- What are Azure Virtual Machines (VMs), and how do you deploy and manage them in Azure?
- Answer: Azure Virtual Machines (VMs) are scalable and flexible compute instances in the cloud that run on virtualized hardware. VMs in Azure can run various operating systems (Windows, Linux) and applications, providing on-demand compute capacity for a wide range of workloads. To deploy and manage Azure VMs:
- Create a VM: Use the Azure portal, Azure CLI, Azure PowerShell, or Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates to create a new VM instance, specifying the VM size, operating system, disk configuration, networking settings, and authentication options.
- Configure networking: Associate the VM with a virtual network (VNet) and subnet, configure network security groups (NSGs) to control inbound and outbound traffic, and assign public IP addresses and DNS names for internet access.
- Provision storage: Attach managed disks or blob storage for VM storage, specifying the disk type (Standard HDD, Standard SSD, Premium SSD) and size based on performance and durability requirements.
- Manage VM lifecycle: Start, stop, restart, resize, or delete VM instances as needed using the Azure portal, Azure CLI, Azure PowerShell, or Azure Management APIs, ensuring efficient resource utilization and cost management.
- Monitor and troubleshoot: Monitor VM performance, health, and resource usage using Azure Monitor metrics and logs, configure alerts and notifications for proactive monitoring and troubleshooting, and diagnose issues using Azure Diagnostics and VM serial console access.
- Automate deployment: Use Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates, Azure CLI scripts, Azure PowerShell scripts, or Azure DevOps pipelines to automate VM deployment and configuration, enabling Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) practices.
- Answer: Azure Virtual Machines (VMs) are scalable and flexible compute instances in the cloud that run on virtualized hardware. VMs in Azure can run various operating systems (Windows, Linux) and applications, providing on-demand compute capacity for a wide range of workloads. To deploy and manage Azure VMs:
- What is Azure App Service, and how do you deploy and manage web applications using Azure App Service?
- Answer: Azure App Service is a fully managed platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offering in Azure that enables developers to build, deploy, and scale web applications and APIs quickly and easily. With Azure App Service, developers can focus on application development without worrying about managing underlying infrastructure. To deploy and manage web applications using Azure App Service:
- Create an App Service plan: Choose an appropriate pricing tier and region for the App Service plan, specifying the desired compute resources (e.g., CPU, memory, storage) and scaling options (e.g., horizontal scaling, auto-scaling).
- Create a web app: Use the Azure portal, Azure CLI, Azure PowerShell, or Azure DevOps to create a new web app instance, specifying the runtime stack (e.g., .NET, Java, Node.js, Python, PHP), deployment options (e.g., code, container), and configuration settings (e.g., environment variables, connection strings).
- Deploy application code: Deploy application code to the web app instance using various deployment options, such as local Git deployment, GitHub integration, Azure DevOps pipelines, FTP/SFTP, or Azure Blob storage, ensuring seamless deployment and version control.
- Configure custom domains: Associate custom domain names with the web app instance using Azure DNS or third-party DNS providers, configure SSL certificates for secure HTTPS connections, and set up traffic routing and load balancing for high availability.
- Scale and monitor: Scale the web app instance vertically or horizontally based on demand using the scaling options available in the App Service plan, monitor application performance and health using Azure Monitor metrics and logs, and configure alerts and notifications for proactive monitoring and troubleshooting.
- Integrate with other services: Integrate the web app instance with other Azure services such as Azure SQL Database, Azure Cosmos DB, Azure Storage, Azure Functions, and Azure Active Directory for data storage, authentication, authorization, messaging, and other application services.
- Answer: Azure App Service is a fully managed platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offering in Azure that enables developers to build, deploy, and scale web applications and APIs quickly and easily. With Azure App Service, developers can focus on application development without worrying about managing underlying infrastructure. To deploy and manage web applications using Azure App Service:
- What is Azure SQL Database, and how does it differ from SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines?
- Answer: Azure SQL Database is a fully managed relational database-as-a-service (DBaaS) offering in Azure that provides a scalable, secure, and highly available SQL database engine with built-in intelligence and advanced features. Azure SQL Database differs from SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines in several key aspects:
- Managed service: Azure SQL Database is a fully managed service, where Microsoft handles database management tasks such as provisioning, patching, backups, monitoring, and automatic failover, whereas SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines requires managing and maintaining the underlying VM infrastructure and SQL Server installation.
- Scalability: Azure SQL Database offers built-in scalability features such as automatic scaling, elastic pools, and Hyperscale (formerly known as Azure SQL Database Managed Instance), allowing for seamless scaling of compute and storage resources based on workload demands, whereas SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines requires manual scaling and provisioning of VM instances.
- High availability: Azure SQL Database provides built-in high availability with automatic replication, failover, and geo-replication across multiple data centers for data redundancy and disaster recovery, ensuring data availability and business continuity, whereas SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines requires configuring and managing high availability solutions such as Always On Availability Groups or SQL Server Failover Cluster Instances.
- Cost model: Azure SQL Database offers a consumption-based pricing model with options for serverless, provisioned, and reserved capacity pricing tiers based on compute and storage usage, offering cost savings and flexibility, whereas SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines requires paying for VM compute and storage resources separately, with additional licensing costs for SQL Server software.
- Feature set: Azure SQL Database offers a subset of features compared to a full SQL Server installation, with support for common SQL Server features such as T-SQL, stored procedures, triggers, indexes, and views, as well as additional features such as built-in intelligence (e.g., automatic tuning, query performance insights) and advanced security capabilities (e.g., data encryption, threat detection), whereas SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines offers full control over SQL Server features and configurations.
- Answer: Azure SQL Database is a fully managed relational database-as-a-service (DBaaS) offering in Azure that provides a scalable, secure, and highly available SQL database engine with built-in intelligence and advanced features. Azure SQL Database differs from SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines in several key aspects:
- What is Azure DevOps, and how does it support the software development lifecycle (SDLC)?
- Answer: Azure DevOps is a set of cloud-based collaboration tools and services for software development, delivery, and operations offered by Microsoft. Azure DevOps supports the entire software development lifecycle (SDLC) from planning and coding to building, testing, releasing, and monitoring, enabling teams to collaborate and deliver high-quality software faster and more efficiently. Azure DevOps consists of the following services:
- Azure Boards: Agile project management tools for planning, tracking, and reporting on work items (e.g., user stories, tasks, bugs) using Scrum, Kanban, or custom agile methodologies.
- Azure Repos: Git-based version control system for hosting and managing Git repositories, enabling distributed version control, branching, merging, and pull requests for collaborative code development.
- Azure Pipelines: Continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) service for automating build, test, and deployment pipelines across multiple platforms (Windows, Linux, macOS) and deployment targets (Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, on-premises).
- Azure Artifacts: Package management service for hosting and sharing packages (e.g., NuGet, npm, Maven) and artifacts (e.g., build artifacts, dependencies) across development teams and projects.
- Azure Test Plans: Test management service for planning, executing, and tracking manual and exploratory testing efforts, including test case management, test execution, and defect tracking.
- Azure DevOps Extensions: Marketplace for integrating and extending Azure DevOps with third-party tools and services (e.g., Slack, Jira, GitHub, Jenkins) using extensions and integrations. Azure DevOps supports DevOps practices such as version control, continuous integration, continuous delivery, automated testing, release management, and application monitoring, enabling teams to collaborate, iterate, and deliver software with greater speed, quality, and reliability.
- Answer: Azure DevOps is a set of cloud-based collaboration tools and services for software development, delivery, and operations offered by Microsoft. Azure DevOps supports the entire software development lifecycle (SDLC) from planning and coding to building, testing, releasing, and monitoring, enabling teams to collaborate and deliver high-quality software faster and more efficiently. Azure DevOps consists of the following services: