Describe Azure architecture and services: Describe Azure compute and networking services

Question 1

What are Azure Virtual Machines (VMs)?

Answer 1

Virtualized servers that provide Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), offering complete control over the OS, software, and hosting configurations.

Question 2

What are common use cases for Azure VMs?

Answer 2

Testing and development.
Running applications in the cloud.
Extending datacenters to the cloud.
Disaster recovery.

Question 3

What are Virtual Machine Scale Sets (VMSS)?

Answer 3

VMSS allows automated scaling and centralized management of identical, load-balanced VMs, ideal for large-scale services.

Question 4

What is an Availability Set in Azure?

Answer 4

A grouping of VMs to ensure fault tolerance by distributing VMs across fault domains (power/network failure zones) and update domains (maintenance zones).

Question 5

What are containers in Azure?

Answer 5

Lightweight virtualization environments that run multiple apps on a single host without managing the OS, designed for agility and dynamic scaling.

Question 6

How do containers differ from VMs?

Answer 6

VMs virtualize hardware and include an OS, while containers virtualize the OS, bundling only the app and its dependencies.

Question 7

What is Azure Container Instances (ACI)?

Answer 7

A PaaS offering to run single-container workloads without managing VMs or infrastructure.

Question 8

What is Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)?

Answer 8

A container orchestration service for deploying, managing, and scaling containerized applications.

Question 9

What are Azure Functions?

Answer 9

Event-driven, serverless compute options that run code in response to triggers without maintaining infrastructure.

Question 10

What are the benefits of Azure Functions?

Answer 10

No infrastructure management.
Automatic scaling based on demand.
Pay only for the execution time.

Question 11

What is the difference between stateless and stateful Azure Functions?

Answer 11

Stateless functions restart on each event; stateful (Durable Functions) retain context between executions.

Question 12

What is an Azure Virtual Network (VNet)?

Answer 12

A logically isolated network in Azure that securely connects Azure resources and extends on-premises networks to the cloud.

Question 13

What are subnets in Azure?

Answer 13

Subdivisions of a VNet’s IP address range to organize and isolate resources for better scalability and security.

Question 14

What are public and private endpoints in Azure networking?

Answer 14

Public endpoint: Accessible over the internet with a public IP.
Private endpoint: Uses a private IP within a VNet.

Question 15

What is virtual network peering?

Answer 15

A connection between two VNets that allows private communication without routing traffic over the public internet.

Question 16

What is a VPN Gateway in Azure?

Answer 16

A virtual network gateway used to send encrypted traffic between Azure VNets, on-premises networks, or devices.

Question 17

What is Azure ExpressRoute?

Answer 17

A private, high-speed connection between on-premises infrastructure and Azure, bypassing the public internet for better security and reliability.

Question 18

What is the difference between policy-based and route-based VPN gateways?

Answer 18

Policy-based: Statically defines encrypted traffic.
Route-based: Uses IP routing to dynamically select traffic for encryption.

Question 19

What is Azure DNS?

Answer 19

A hosting service for DNS domains that provides name resolution using Microsoft Azure infrastructure.

Question 20

What are alias records in Azure DNS?

Answer 20

Records that point to Azure resources and update automatically when the resource’s IP changes.

Question 21

Does Azure DNS allow you to purchase domain names?

Answer 21

No, you must purchase domains through App Service domains or a third-party registrar and host them in Azure DNS.

Question 22

What is Azure App Service?

Answer 22

An HTTP-based service for hosting web apps, APIs, and mobile backends with automatic scaling and high availability.

Question 23

What app types can be hosted on Azure App Service?

Answer 23

Web apps.
API apps.
WebJobs for background tasks.
Mobile apps.

Question 24

What programming languages are supported by Azure App Service?

Answer 24

.NET, Java, Ruby, Node.js, PHP, and Python, on Windows and Linux platforms.

Question 25

What is an Azure Application Gateway?

Answer 25

A Layer 7 load balancer with features like SSL termination and Web Application Firewall (WAF).

Question 26

What is the Azure Gateway Load Balancer?

Answer 26

A service for advanced traffic management integrated with third-party network virtual appliances.

Question 27

When should you use containers instead of VMs?

Answer 27

Use containers for lightweight, portable, and scalable application workloads; use VMs when full control of the OS is needed.

Question 28

When is ExpressRoute preferred over a VPN gateway?

Answer 28

When higher bandwidth, lower latency, and better security are required for private connectivity.

Question 29

How do Azure Functions differ from App Service?

Answer 29

Azure Functions focus on serverless, event-driven execution, while App Service is for hosting web apps and APIs.