Azure Administration Interview Questions with answers for freshers #2

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In this article I am providing some Azure Administrator Interview questions with answers on Azure Storage. Hope this will make you confident to prepare for your upcoming Azure Interviews. If you have not covered previous interview questions series you can check here.

What are different types of storage in Azure Cloud?

 

Azure Cloud offers a variety of storage options to cater to different needs and scenarios. Here are the primary types of storage available in Azure:

1. Azure Blob Storage

  • Purpose: Designed for storing large amounts of unstructured data, such as text or binary data.
  • Use Cases: Backup, disaster recovery, big data analytics, serving images or documents directly to a browser, and storing data for distributed access.
  • Features:
    • Hot, Cool, and Archive Tiers: Optimizes costs based on data access patterns.
    • Blob Types: Block blobs, Append blobs, and Page blobs.
    • Lifecycle Management: Automates moving data between tiers.

2. Azure Files

  • Purpose: Provides fully managed file shares in the cloud that are accessible via the standard SMB protocol.
  • Use Cases: Lift-and-shift applications, shared application settings, and storage for traditional applications.
  • Features:
    • SMB and NFS Protocols: Compatible with Windows and Linux clients.
    • File Sync: Synchronize on-premises files with Azure Files.

3. Azure Disk Storage

  • Purpose: Provides disk volumes for virtual machines (VMs).
  • Use Cases: Persistent storage for VMs, databases, and applications requiring high IOPS and low latency.
  • Features:
    • Disk Types: Standard HDD, Standard SSD, and Premium SSD.
    • Snapshot and Backup: Simplified data protection and recovery.

4. Azure Queue Storage

  • Purpose: Provides message queuing for large workloads.
  • Use Cases: Decoupling and load-leveling of application components, asynchronous processing, and implementing reliable messaging.
  • Features:
    • Scalable and Secure: Supports large-scale messaging.
    • Integration: Works seamlessly with other Azure services.

5. Azure Table Storage

  • Purpose: Offers a NoSQL key-value store for semi-structured data.
  • Use Cases: Storing structured, non-relational data, such as user data for web applications, and other scenarios where schema-less storage is advantageous.
  • Features:
    • Schema-less Design: Allows for rapid development.
    • Cost-effective: Suitable for large volumes of data.

6. Azure Managed Disks

  • Purpose: Simplifies the management of VM disks.
  • Use Cases: Optimal for production workloads where managing disk scalability, high availability, and data durability are critical.
  • Features:
    • Automatic Management: Azure handles storage account management.
    • Performance and Capacity: Easy to scale up or down as needed.

7. Azure NetApp Files

  • Purpose: High-performance file storage service for enterprise applications.
  • Use Cases: High-performance workloads like SAP, Oracle, and HPC applications.
  • Features:
    • High Performance: Low latency and high throughput.
    • Compliance: Supports various compliance certifications.

8. Azure Data Lake Storage

  • Purpose: Optimized storage for big data analytics workloads.
  • Use Cases: Analytics data lakes, IoT data storage, and handling large-scale analytics data.
  • Features:
    • Hadoop Integration: Compatible with Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS).
    • Security: Fine-grained access controls.

9. Azure Archive Storage

  • Purpose: Provides low-cost storage for rarely accessed data.
  • Use Cases: Long-term backup, compliance, and archival storage.
  • Features:
    • Cost-efficient: Optimized for cost over performance.
    • Durability: Ensures long-term data integrity.

10. Azure Blob Storage with Data Lake Gen2

  • Purpose: Combines the features of Azure Blob Storage with hierarchical namespace capabilities.
  • Use Cases: Suitable for analytics workloads and big data storage scenarios.
  • Features:
    • Hierarchical Namespace: Optimizes performance for big data workloads.
    • Integration: Seamless integration with analytics services.

Each of these storage types in Azure is designed to meet specific needs, offering flexibility, scalability, and a wide range of features to ensure efficient and effective data management in the cloud.

How many storage tiers offered in Azure Blob Storage? Explain usage of each types.

Azure Blob Storage offers three primary storage tiers designed to optimize cost and performance based on data access patterns:

1. Hot Tier

  • Purpose: Optimized for storing data that is accessed frequently.
  • Usage:
    • Scenarios: Frequently accessed data, such as active documents, media files, and hot data for applications.
    • Performance: Provides the lowest latency and highest throughput.
    • Cost: Higher storage costs compared to other tiers but lower access costs.

2. Cool Tier

  • Purpose: Designed for data that is infrequently accessed and stored for at least 30 days.
  • Usage:
    • Scenarios: Data that is infrequently accessed, but still needs to be available within a short time, such as backups, older documents, and media content.
    • Performance: Slightly higher access latency compared to the Hot tier, but still provides good performance.
    • Cost: Lower storage costs than the Hot tier, but higher access and data retrieval costs.

3. Archive Tier

  • Purpose: Meant for data that is rarely accessed and stored for a long duration.
  • Usage:
    • Scenarios: Long-term storage for compliance, archival data, older backups, and any data that needs to be retained but is not actively used.
    • Performance: Highest latency and retrieval time since data needs to be rehydrated before access, which can take hours.
    • Cost: Lowest storage costs but the highest data retrieval costs and latency.

Summary of Usage Scenarios

  • Hot Tier: Ideal for active data that needs to be accessed frequently and quickly. Examples include website content, mobile and desktop application data, and real-time analytics data.
  • Cool Tier: Suitable for data that is not accessed daily but still needs to be readily available when required. Examples include backup and disaster recovery data, infrequently accessed media files, and data that needs to be retained for business or compliance reasons but is not frequently used.
  • Archive Tier: Best for long-term retention of data that is rarely accessed. Examples include long-term backups, archival storage for compliance and legal requirements, and any historical data that does not require immediate access.

Cost Considerations

  • Hot Tier: Higher storage costs but lower access costs make it ideal for data that sees frequent use.
  • Cool Tier: Balances storage and access costs, making it cost-effective for data with infrequent access patterns.
  • Archive Tier: Minimizes storage costs for data that is rarely accessed, with higher retrieval costs making it suitable for data that can tolerate delays in access.

By choosing the appropriate tier based on data access patterns and cost considerations, organizations can effectively manage their storage needs while optimizing costs in Azure Blob Storage.

Explain Azure Table Storage and its usage.

Azure Table Storage is a service that provides structured, NoSQL key-value storage in the cloud, allowing for the storage of large amounts of data that can be accessed quickly and cost-effectively. It is part of the Azure Storage suite and is designed for storing large volumes of structured, non-relational data.

Key Features of Azure Table Storage

  1. NoSQL Storage: Schema-less design allows for flexible data models.
  2. Scalability: Can handle large amounts of data and high-traffic workloads.
  3. Cost-Effective: Designed to be a low-cost option for storing large amounts of data.
  4. Fast Access: Optimized for fast read and write operations.
  5. Simple Operations: Supports basic CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations.

Structure of Azure Table Storage

  • Tables: The main entities where data is stored.
  • Entities: Rows in a table, which can have up to 252 properties.
  • Properties: Columns in the table, which consist of key-value pairs.
  • PartitionKey: Defines the partition for an entity and enables scalability.
  • RowKey: A unique identifier for an entity within a partition.

Usage Scenarios for Azure Table Storage

  1. IoT Data Storage
    • Scenario: Storing telemetry data from IoT devices, where each device sends large amounts of structured data.
    • Benefit: Handles high volumes of data with low latency, and the schema-less nature allows for flexible data storage.
  2. Web Application Data
    • Scenario: Storing user information, session data, and other application metadata.
    • Benefit: Scalable to handle large numbers of users and cost-effective for storing user profiles, settings, and logs.
  3. Log Data
    • Scenario: Storing logs from applications and services for later analysis.
    • Benefit: Efficiently stores and retrieves large volumes of log data, enabling quick analysis and debugging.
  4. Configuration Store
    • Scenario: Storing configuration settings for applications that can be accessed quickly and easily.
    • Benefit: Fast access to configuration settings with the ability to update configurations dynamically.
  5. Metadata Storage
    • Scenario: Storing metadata for large datasets, such as files in Azure Blob Storage or Azure Data Lake.
    • Benefit: Provides a quick way to look up metadata information, improving the performance of applications relying on this data.
  6. Product Catalogs
    • Scenario: Storing product information for e-commerce platforms, where each product has various attributes.
    • Benefit: Efficiently manages large catalogs with various attributes, and supports quick retrieval for displaying product details.

Advantages of Using Azure Table Storage

  • Flexibility: Supports a wide range of data types and structures without the need for a predefined schema.
  • Performance: Optimized for fast read and write operations, making it suitable for high-throughput applications.
  • Cost: Offers a cost-effective solution for storing large volumes of structured data.
  • Integration: Seamlessly integrates with other Azure services, allowing for comprehensive solutions within the Azure ecosystem.
  • Availability: Provides high availability and durability, ensuring that data is always accessible.

Considerations

  • Indexing: Only supports indexing on PartitionKey and RowKey, which may require careful planning of data models.
  • Query Limitations: More complex queries might be less efficient compared to relational databases.
  • Transaction Support: Limited support for transactions, only within a single partition.

Azure Table Storage is an ideal solution for scenarios requiring the storage of large volumes of structured data without the overhead of managing complex relational databases. Its flexibility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness make it a valuable tool for developers building cloud-based applications.

Explain Azure Queue Storage and its usage.

Azure Queue Storage is a service for storing large numbers of messages that can be accessed from anywhere in the world via authenticated calls using HTTP or HTTPS. It is designed to facilitate communication between different components of a cloud application by enabling asynchronous messaging. This is especially useful for decoupling application components to improve reliability and scalability.

Key Features of Azure Queue Storage

  1. Message Storage: Stores millions of messages, each up to 64 KB in size.
  2. FIFO: Messages are typically processed in a First-In-First-Out (FIFO) order.
  3. Visibility Timeout: Allows messages to be temporarily invisible to other consumers while being processed.
  4. Scalability: Automatically handles large volumes of messages.
  5. Accessibility: Accessible from anywhere via authenticated HTTP or HTTPS calls.
  6. Integration: Easily integrates with other Azure services.

Usage Scenarios for Azure Queue Storage

  1. Decoupling Components
    • Scenario: Separate different parts of an application to prevent failures in one component from affecting others.
    • Benefit: Improves application reliability and scalability by isolating components.
  2. Load Leveling
    • Scenario: Buffering traffic spikes in workloads to smooth out load variations.
    • Benefit: Ensures that backend services are not overwhelmed by sudden bursts of activity.
  3. Asynchronous Processing
    • Scenario: Offload time-consuming tasks to be processed asynchronously.
    • Benefit: Improves responsiveness and performance of front-end components by delegating long-running operations.
  4. Task Scheduling
    • Scenario: Schedule tasks to be processed at a later time or in a specific order.
    • Benefit: Manages and controls task execution times and sequences efficiently.
  5. Reliable Message Delivery
    • Scenario: Ensure messages are delivered reliably even in cases of temporary failures.
    • Benefit: Guarantees that messages are processed at least once, providing reliability in communication between components.
  6. Distributed Applications
    • Scenario: Enable communication between distributed application components deployed across different environments.
    • Benefit: Facilitates integration and communication between microservices, cloud services, and on-premises systems.

What is the purpose of Azure Storage Account?

An Azure Storage Account provides a unique namespace in Azure for storing and accessing various types of data. It serves as a container for multiple storage services, enabling users to manage their data efficiently and securely. Here are the primary purposes and benefits of using an Azure Storage Account:

1. Centralized Storage Management

  • Purpose: To create a centralized place to manage and organize different types of storage services.
  • Benefits:
    • Simplifies management by consolidating different storage types under one account.
    • Enables unified access control and monitoring for all storage resources.

2. Multiple Storage Services

  • Purpose: To offer various storage services that cater to different types of data and use cases.
  • Storage Services:
    • Blob Storage: For unstructured data like text, binary data, images, videos, and backups.
    • File Storage: For managed file shares accessible via SMB/NFS protocols.
    • Queue Storage: For message queuing to enable asynchronous communication between application components.
    • Table Storage: For storing structured, NoSQL data.
    • Disk Storage: For VM disks to provide persistent storage for Azure Virtual Machines.

3. Scalability and Performance

  • Purpose: To support scalable and high-performance storage solutions.
  • Benefits:
    • Can handle massive amounts of data, accommodating growth and high-demand workloads.
    • Provides performance tiers (e.g., Hot, Cool, and Archive for Blob Storage) to optimize cost and performance based on access patterns.

4. Security and Compliance

  • Purpose: To ensure data is stored securely and meets regulatory requirements.
  • Benefits:
    • Supports encryption at rest and in transit to protect data.
    • Integrates with Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) for role-based access control (RBAC).
    • Provides advanced security features like shared access signatures (SAS), private endpoints, and firewalls.
    • Helps in meeting compliance standards (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA).

5. High Availability and Durability

  • Purpose: To ensure data is highly available and durable.
  • Benefits:
    • Offers redundancy options like Locally Redundant Storage (LRS), Zone-Redundant Storage (ZRS), Geo-Redundant Storage (GRS), and Read-Access Geo-Redundant Storage (RA-GRS) to protect against data loss.
    • Ensures data availability through SLA-backed service guarantees.

6. Cost Management

  • Purpose: To provide cost-effective storage solutions tailored to various usage patterns.
  • Benefits:
    • Different pricing tiers and models allow users to optimize costs based on their specific needs (e.g., frequent vs. infrequent access).
    • Provides cost analysis and budgeting tools within Azure to manage and predict expenses.

7. Integration with Other Azure Services

  • Purpose: To seamlessly integrate storage with other Azure services and applications.
  • Benefits:
    • Works well with Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Azure Functions, Azure App Services, and more.
    • Enables building end-to-end solutions by leveraging the extensive Azure ecosystem.

8. Data Analytics and Big Data

  • Purpose: To support data analytics and big data scenarios.
  • Benefits:
    • Integrates with Azure Data Lake Storage for big data analytics.
    • Facilitates data ingestion, processing, and analysis using services like Azure Data Factory, Azure Synapse Analytics, and HDInsight.

An Azure Storage Account is essential for organizing and managing various types of data in the Azure cloud. It provides a unified platform for multiple storage services, ensuring scalability, security, high availability, and cost efficiency. Whether for backups, big data analytics, asynchronous messaging, or persistent VM storage, an Azure Storage Account offers the flexibility and performance needed to support a wide range of applications and workloads.

What is the difference between Azure Entra account and Azure Storage Account?

Here is the comparison between Azure Entra and Azure Storage Account in a table format:

Feature/Aspect Azure Entra Account Azure Storage Account
Overview Comprehensive IAM suite for managing identities and access Provides a namespace for storing various data types in the cloud
Key Features
– Identity Management – User and group management – Not applicable
– Single Sign-On (SSO)
– Access Management – Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) – Not applicable
– Conditional Access
– Security – Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) – Data encryption at rest and in transit
– Identity Protection – Shared access signatures (SAS), network-level protection
– Directory Services – Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) – Not applicable
Use Cases
– Authentication and Authorization – Ensuring secure login and access – Storing backups, media files, application data, large datasets
– User Management – Handling user identities, roles, and groups – Using Blob Storage and Data Lake Storage for big data analytics
– Security and Compliance – Implementing security measures like MFA and conditional access policies – Enabling asynchronous processing and data persistence for applications
Scalability and Performance – Not applicable – Supports massive data volumes and high-traffic workloads
– Offers performance tiers for cost and performance optimization
High Availability and Durability – Not applicable – Redundancy options like LRS, ZRS, GRS, RA-GRS for data protection
Integration with Other Azure Services – Integrates with various Azure services for identity and access management – Integrates with Azure VMs, AKS, Functions, App Services, and more
Security and Access – Implements identity security measures like MFA, SSO, and conditional access – Implements data security measures like encryption, access control, and redundancy
Purpose – Manages user identities, access controls, and security policies – Provides data storage solutions for different types of data
Functionality – Manages authentication, authorization, and user security – Manages data storage services like blobs, files, queues, tables, and disks
Key Use Cases – Managing user access, securing authentication processes, implementing compliance and security policies – Storing and managing various types of data, supporting storage needs for VMs, and big data analytics

What is azure key vault? How it is related with Azure Storage?

Azure Key Vault is a cloud service for securely storing and managing sensitive information such as secrets, encryption keys, and certificates. It is designed to help organizations protect cryptographic keys and secrets used by cloud applications and services.

Key Features of Azure Key Vault

  1. Secret Management:
    • Purpose: Store and manage sensitive information such as API keys, passwords, and connection strings.
    • Benefit: Ensures that secrets are kept secure and are accessible only to authorized applications and users.
  2. Key Management:
    • Purpose: Generate, store, and manage cryptographic keys for data encryption and decryption.
    • Benefit: Provides a secure and compliant way to manage encryption keys, ensuring data security.
  3. Certificate Management:
    • Purpose: Provision, manage, and deploy SSL/TLS certificates.
    • Benefit: Simplifies the management of certificates, reducing the risk of certificate expiration and ensuring secure communications.
  4. Access Control:
    • Purpose: Utilize Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) to control access to keys, secrets, and certificates.
    • Benefit: Ensures that only authorized users and applications have access to sensitive information.
  5. Monitoring and Logging:
    • Purpose: Monitor access and usage of keys and secrets with Azure Monitor and Azure Security Center.
    • Benefit: Provides visibility and auditability of key and secret usage for security and compliance purposes.

Relationship with Azure Storage

Azure Key Vault and Azure Storage can work together to enhance the security of applications and services by managing and securing access to sensitive information required by Azure Storage. Here are the key ways they are related:

1. Securing Storage Account Access Keys:

  • Usage: Store Azure Storage account access keys in Azure Key Vault to avoid hardcoding them in applications.
  • Benefit: Increases security by reducing the risk of accidental exposure of storage account keys.

2. Encryption Key Management:

  • Usage: Use Azure Key Vault to manage the encryption keys for Azure Storage services, such as Blob Storage, File Storage, and Disk Storage.
  • Benefit: Provides a secure and centralized way to manage encryption keys, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.

3. Shared Access Signatures (SAS):

  • Usage: Store SAS tokens in Azure Key Vault to control access to specific resources in Azure Storage.
  • Benefit: Enhances security by storing SAS tokens securely and ensuring they are accessible only to authorized applications and users.

4. Access Control Integration:

  • Usage: Integrate Azure Key Vault with Azure AD to control access to the secrets and keys used by Azure Storage.
  • Benefit: Provides fine-grained access control and auditing capabilities, ensuring only authorized entities can access sensitive information.

Azure Key Vault is a critical service for managing and securing sensitive information such as secrets, encryption keys, and certificates. Its integration with Azure Storage helps enhance the security of storage solutions by securely managing access keys, encryption keys, and SAS tokens. This combination ensures that sensitive information is protected, access is controlled, and compliance requirements are met, providing a robust security framework for cloud applications and services.

 

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