1. What is Microsoft Azure? #

Answer:
Azure is Microsoft’s cloud computing platform offering a range of services such as computing, storage, databases, and networking. It supports building, deploying, and managing applications in the cloud or on-premises.

2. What are the key benefits of using Azure? #

Answer:

  • Scalability and flexibility
  • High availability and redundancy
  • Pay-as-you-go pricing model
  • Integration with Microsoft tools (e.g., Active Directory, Office 365)
  • Security and compliance certifications

3. What is Azure Resource Manager (ARM)? #

Answer:
ARM provides a management layer for creating, updating, and deleting Azure resources. It uses declarative JSON templates to define infrastructure as code (IaC).

4. What is the difference between Azure Virtual Machines and Azure App Service? #

Answer:

  • Azure Virtual Machines (VMs): Full control over operating systems and applications; suitable for hosting custom workloads.
  • Azure App Service: PaaS offering for hosting web applications, APIs, and mobile backends without worrying about infrastructure management.

5. What is Azure Active Directory (Azure AD)? #

Answer:
Azure AD is a cloud-based identity and access management service. It enables single sign-on (SSO), multi-factor authentication (MFA), and access control for users and applications.

6. What is Azure Blob Storage? #

Answer:
Azure Blob Storage is an object storage solution for unstructured data like images, videos, and backups. It supports tiers like Hot, Cool, and Archive for cost-effective storage management.

7. What are Azure Functions? #

Answer:
Azure Functions is a serverless compute service that allows you to run event-driven code without managing infrastructure. It supports triggers from HTTP requests, timers, queues, etc.

8. What is Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)? #

Answer:
AKS is a managed Kubernetes service for deploying, scaling, and managing containerized applications. It automates Kubernetes node provisioning and upgrades.

9. What is the difference between Azure SQL Database and SQL Server on Azure VM? #

Answer:

  • Azure SQL Database: Managed PaaS offering; Microsoft handles updates, backups, and scalability.
  • SQL Server on Azure VM: IaaS option; full control over the database and underlying VM.

10. What is Azure DevOps? #

Answer:
Azure DevOps is a suite of tools for DevOps practices, including CI/CD pipelines, source control (Azure Repos), testing (Azure Test Plans), and artifact management (Azure Artifacts).

11. What is the purpose of Azure Virtual Network (VNet)? #

Answer:
Azure VNet enables secure communication between Azure resources, on-premises environments, and the internet. It supports subnets, firewalls, and peering.

12. How does Azure Monitor work? #

Answer:
Azure Monitor collects and analyzes telemetry data from applications and resources, providing insights into performance and health through logs and metrics.

13. What is the difference between Azure Logic Apps and Azure Functions? #

Answer:

  • Logic Apps: Workflow automation platform; used for integrating systems and services using connectors.
  • Functions: Serverless compute service for executing custom code based on events.

14. What is the Azure App Service Plan? #

Answer:
An App Service Plan defines the compute resources (e.g., instance size, scaling) allocated to your Azure App Service.

15. How do you secure Azure resources? #

Answer:

  • Use Role-Based Access Control (RBAC).
  • Implement Network Security Groups (NSGs).
  • Encrypt data with Azure Key Vault.
  • Enable Azure Defender and Sentinel for threat detection.

16. What are Availability Zones in Azure? #

Answer:
Availability Zones are physically separate data centers within a region. They provide high availability and fault tolerance for mission-critical applications.

17. What is Azure Load Balancer? #

Answer:
Azure Load Balancer distributes traffic evenly across multiple VMs or services, improving performance and ensuring availability.

18. What is Azure Site Recovery? #

Answer:
Azure Site Recovery (ASR) provides disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS). It replicates workloads to Azure or another region to enable failover in case of outages.

19. What is Azure Policy? #

Answer:
Azure Policy is a governance tool that enforces rules and compliance across resources. For example, it can restrict the use of specific VM types or regions.

20. What is the difference between Azure Scale Sets and Auto-Scaling? #

Answer:

  • Scale Sets: Automatically manage and scale a group of VMs. Used for consistent configuration of multiple VMs.
  • Auto-Scaling: Adjusts resource allocation (e.g., App Services or VMs) based on demand.