20 Azure Blob Storage Interview Questions and Answers

Azure Blob Storage is a cloud-based storage service that is often used to store and process large amounts of data. If you are interviewing for a position that involves Azure Blob Storage, it is important to be prepared to answer questions about this service. In this article, we review some of the most commonly asked Azure Blob Storage interview questions and provide guidance on how to answer them.

Azure Blob Storage Interview Questions and Answers

Here are 20 commonly asked Azure Blob Storage interview questions and answers to prepare you for your interview:

1. What is Azure Blob Storage?

Azure Blob Storage is a cloud-based storage service that is optimized for storing large amounts of unstructured data, such as video, audio, and images. Blob storage is also a good choice for storing data that needs to be accessed frequently, but doesn’t need to be updated often.

2. How does Azure Blob storage work?

Azure Blob storage is a cloud-based storage service that allows you to save and retrieve data from anywhere in the world. Blobs are stored in containers, which can be public or private, and can be accessed via a URL. Azure Blob storage is a great way to store large amounts of data that you need to be able to access quickly and easily.

3. What are the key components of Azure blob storage?

The key components of Azure blob storage are containers and blobs. Containers are used to store blobs, which are individual pieces of data. Blobs can be of any type, including text, images, videos, and so on.

4. Is it possible to create a custom container in Azure blob storage? If yes, then how?

Yes, it is possible to create a custom container in Azure blob storage. You can do this by creating a new storage account and then selecting the “Blob service” option. From there, you will be able to create a new container and specify the name, location, and other settings for the container.

5. Can you explain what an object store is in context with Azure blob storage?

An object store is a type of storage that is designed to store and manage data as objects, as opposed to storing data in a traditional file system. Azure blob storage is a type of object store, and it is optimized for storing large amounts of unstructured data, such as video, audio, and images.

6. Can you explain what metadata is stored with each object stored in Azure blob storage?

Metadata is stored with each object stored in Azure blob storage. This metadata includes information such as the object’s name, size, type, and creation date. This metadata can be used to help manage and organize your Azure blob storage account.

7. What’s the difference between block and page blobs?

Block blobs are composed of a series of smaller blocks, each of which is identified by a block ID. Page blobs are composed of a series of pages, each of which is identified by an offset. Block blobs are better suited for storing large amounts of data that can be read and written in chunks, while page blobs are better suited for storing data that needs to be read and written in a random order.

8. What do you understand about partition keys in Azure blob storage?

Partition keys are used in Azure blob storage to help improve performance and scalability by allowing you to spread your data across multiple partitions. Each partition can then be stored on a different storage server, which can help to improve performance and reduce the risk of data loss in the event of a single storage server failure.

9. Can we use multiple partitions for a single table?

Yes

10. What kinds of data can be stored using Azure blob storage?

Azure blob storage can store any type of data, including text, images, videos, and audio files.

11. What advantages does Azure blob storage have over Amazon S3?

Azure blob storage has the advantage of being integrated with the Azure platform, which gives it some advantages over Amazon S3. For example, Azure blob storage can take advantage of Azure’s security and management features. Additionally, Azure blob storage is less expensive than Amazon S3 for storage and data transfer.

12. What types of files can you upload using Azure blob storage?

You can upload any type of file to Azure blob storage. However, keep in mind that Azure blob storage is designed for storing large amounts of unstructured data, so it might not be the best option for storing smaller files or files that need to be structured in a certain way.

13. What is your understanding of blob tiers and access tiering in Azure blob storage?

Blob tiers in Azure blob storage are designed to help optimize performance and costs by allowing you to store data in different tiers, depending on how often it is accessed. There are three tiers: hot, cool, and archive. The hot tier is for data that is accessed frequently, the cool tier is for data that is accessed less frequently, and the archive tier is for data that is infrequently accessed. You can also set an access tier on a per-blob basis, which allows you to further optimize performance and costs.

14. What is the best way to find out which users have write permissions on a specific Azure blob?

The best way to find out which users have write permissions on a specific Azure blob is to check the blob’s access control list (ACL). The ACL will contain a list of all the users who have been granted write permissions on the blob.

15. Do you need to install any software or agent before you can use Azure blob storage?

No, you do not need to install any software or agent to use Azure blob storage. All you need is an Azure account and a storage account.

16. What tools can be used to manage Azure blob storage?

There are a few different tools that can be used to manage Azure blob storage. The Azure portal provides a web-based interface for managing storage account. The Azure Storage Explorer is a desktop application that can be used to manage Azure blob storage. The Azure CLI is a command-line interface that can be used to manage Azure blob storage.

17. How do you handle network connectivity issues when uploading large files to Azure blob storage?

There are a few different ways to handle this. One is to use the Azure Import/Export service, which allows you to ship physical hard drives to an Azure datacenter, where they will be imported into blob storage. Another option is to use the AzCopy tool, which is designed for copying data to and from Azure storage. AzCopy can be used to resume an interrupted upload, which can be helpful in cases where there are network connectivity issues. Finally, you can also use the Azure Storage Explorer tool to upload large files to blob storage.

18. What happens if a file gets corrupted while being uploaded to Azure blob storage?

If a file gets corrupted while being uploaded to Azure blob storage, it will be rejected by the storage service. The file will not be accessible and will not be able to be downloaded.

19. What’s the maximum size allowed for objects stored in Azure blob storage?

The maximum size for objects stored in Azure blob storage is 4.75 TB.

20. What is the fastest way to identify which objects have been modified since a certain date?

The fastest way to identify which objects have been modified since a certain date is to use the Azure Blob Storage API’s LastModified property. This property is updated whenever an object is modified, so by querying it you can easily identify which objects have been changed since a certain point in time.