41 Microsoft Azure Interview Questions and Answers

Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing platform offering a wide range of services including computing, storage, networking, databases, analytics, and AI. Core services include Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Blob Storage, Azure SQL Database, and Azure App Services.

Azure provides high availability through features like Availability Zones, Load Balancers, and automatic failover. These ensure that applications remain accessible even if some components or data centers experience failures.

Azure Resource Manager is the deployment and management service for Azure. It enables users to manage resources as a group, use templates for automation, and apply access controls, making resource management more efficient and secure.

Azure Blob Storage is optimized for storing large amounts of unstructured data like images and videos, while Azure File Storage provides shared file storage accessible via SMB protocol, suitable for legacy applications and file sharing.

Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) is a cloud-based identity and access management service. It is used for user authentication, single sign-on, and securing access to Azure resources and thousands of SaaS applications.

Azure offers built-in security features such as encryption at rest and in transit, network security groups, firewalls, and compliance certifications. Azure Security Center helps monitor and manage security across resources.

Azure Virtual Machines provide Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), allowing users to run full operating systems and manage everything. Azure App Services is a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) for hosting web apps without managing the underlying infrastructure.

Azure supports scalability through features like auto-scaling, load balancing, and distributed services. Resources can be scaled up or down automatically based on demand, ensuring performance and cost efficiency.

Azure Functions is a serverless compute service that lets you run code in response to events without managing servers. It's ideal for event-driven applications, automation, and microservices.

An Azure Subscription is a logical container used to provision resources in Azure. It helps organize resources, manage costs, and apply access controls and policies for different projects or departments.

Azure Managed Disks are managed by Azure, providing better reliability, scalability, and security. Users don't need to manage storage accounts, and features like snapshots and backup are easier to implement. Unmanaged disks require manual management of storage accounts and are less scalable.

Azure RBAC allows granular access management for Azure resources. It assigns roles to users, groups, or applications at different scopes (subscription, resource group, resource). Best practices include using built-in roles, assigning permissions at the lowest scope needed, and regularly reviewing access.

VNet peering connects two Azure VNets, allowing resources to communicate privately across VNets. It is used for network segmentation, multi-region deployments, and integrating resources across different subscriptions or environments without using public internet.

Availability Sets protect against hardware failures within a data center by distributing VMs across multiple fault and update domains. Availability Zones provide higher redundancy by placing resources in physically separate locations within a region, protecting against data center-level failures.

Azure Policy enables organizations to enforce governance and compliance by creating policies that audit or enforce rules on resources. Benefits include automatic remediation, compliance tracking, and prevention of non-compliant resource creation.

Azure Key Vault securely stores secrets, keys, and certificates. It provides centralized secret management, access control, auditing, and integration with Azure services, reducing the risk of credential exposure in code or configuration files.

Azure Logic Apps is a workflow automation service using a visual designer and connectors for integrating services. Azure Functions is a serverless compute service for running code in response to events. Logic Apps are better for orchestrating workflows, while Functions are ideal for custom code execution.

Azure ExpressRoute provides a private, dedicated connection between on-premises infrastructure and Azure, bypassing the public internet. It is used for scenarios requiring higher security, reliability, and lower latency, such as financial services or large data transfers.

Azure Monitor collects and analyzes telemetry data from Azure resources and applications. It provides insights, alerts, dashboards, and integrates with automation tools to help detect issues, optimize performance, and ensure reliability.

Azure Service Bus is a fully managed enterprise message broker. It supports messaging patterns like queues (point-to-point), topics and subscriptions (publish/subscribe), and sessions for ordered message processing, enabling decoupled and scalable application architectures.

Azure Managed Identities provide automatically managed identities for Azure resources, allowing them to authenticate to Azure services without storing credentials in code. This simplifies secure access and reduces the risk of credential leaks.

Azure Site Recovery replicates workloads running on physical and virtual machines to Azure or a secondary site. In case of outages, it enables failover and failback, minimizing downtime and data loss, and supporting compliance requirements.

Azure Application Gateway is a web traffic load balancer with application-level routing, SSL termination, and Web Application Firewall (WAF) capabilities. It improves security, scalability, and performance for web applications.

Azure Cosmos DB is a globally distributed, multi-model NoSQL database. It offers low latency, high availability, automatic scaling, and multiple consistency models, making it suitable for mission-critical, globally distributed applications.

Azure Resource Locks can be applied to resources or resource groups to prevent accidental modifications or deletions. There are two types: ReadOnly (prevents changes) and Delete (prevents deletion), providing an extra layer of protection for critical resources.

Azure Blueprints enable organizations to define and deploy a repeatable set of Azure resources, policies, and RBAC assignments. They help ensure compliance, standardization, and faster environment provisioning across multiple subscriptions.

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is a managed Kubernetes container orchestration service. It automates critical tasks such as provisioning, scaling, and upgrading Kubernetes clusters, integrates with Azure Active Directory for authentication, and provides built-in monitoring and security features. AKS simplifies deploying, managing, and operating containerized applications in the cloud.

Azure provides network security at scale through features like Network Security Groups (NSGs), Azure Firewall, DDoS Protection, Application Gateway with Web Application Firewall (WAF), and Private Link. Enterprises can leverage custom routing, segmentation, micro-segmentation, and advanced threat protection to secure complex, multi-tier architectures.

Azure Synapse Analytics is an integrated analytics service that combines big data and data warehousing. It enables data ingestion, preparation, management, and serving for business intelligence and machine learning. Use cases include real-time analytics, data integration from multiple sources, and large-scale data processing.

Azure supports hybrid and multi-cloud strategies through services like Azure Arc, Azure Stack, and Azure Site Recovery. Azure Arc extends Azure management to on-premises and other clouds, Azure Stack enables running Azure services in local data centers, and Site Recovery ensures business continuity across environments.

Azure Policy as Code allows organizations to define, version, and deploy governance policies using code (e.g., ARM templates, Bicep, or Terraform). This approach enables automated policy enforcement, integration with CI/CD pipelines, and improved compliance tracking and auditing.

Azure API Management provides advanced features such as API versioning, throttling, caching, security (OAuth2, JWT validation), analytics, and developer portals. It enables organizations to securely expose, manage, and monitor APIs, supporting scalable and maintainable microservices architectures.

Azure Confidential Computing uses hardware-based Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) to protect data in use. It ensures that data remains encrypted even during processing, preventing unauthorized access from cloud operators or malicious code. Use cases include financial services, healthcare, and confidential data analytics.

Azure offers advanced monitoring through Azure Monitor, Application Insights, Log Analytics, and distributed tracing. These tools provide end-to-end visibility, anomaly detection, custom metrics, and integration with automation for proactive management of distributed and microservices-based applications.

Zero trust in Azure involves verifying every access request, regardless of origin. Key services include Azure Active Directory (conditional access, identity protection), Azure Firewall, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Private Link, and Just-In-Time VM access. Implementing zero trust requires continuous monitoring, least-privilege access, and segmentation.

Azure DevOps provides tools for source control, build automation, testing, and deployment. CI/CD pipelines automate code integration, testing, and deployment to Azure resources, enabling faster releases, improved quality, and rollback capabilities. Integration with Azure services ensures seamless cloud-native development.

Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 is a scalable, secure data lake built on Azure Blob Storage. It supports hierarchical namespaces, fine-grained access control, and optimized performance for big data analytics. Unlike traditional storage, it is designed for high-throughput analytics workloads and seamless integration with Azure analytics services.

Azure offers advanced disaster recovery through paired regions, geo-redundant storage (GRS), Azure Site Recovery, and cross-region replication. These features ensure data durability, minimal downtime, and compliance with regulatory requirements for mission-critical workloads.

Securing serverless applications in Azure involves using Managed Identities, Key Vault for secrets, network restrictions (VNET integration), API authentication, and monitoring with Application Insights. Best practices include least-privilege access, input validation, and regular security reviews.

Azure Machine Learning provides tools for data preparation, model training, deployment, monitoring, and governance. Advanced features include automated machine learning (AutoML), ML pipelines, model versioning, distributed training, and integration with Azure DevOps for MLOps.

Azure Bastion provides secure, seamless RDP and SSH connectivity to Azure VMs directly from the Azure portal without exposing public IP addresses. It eliminates the need for jump servers, reduces attack surface, and simplifies management by integrating with Azure networking and identity controls.