37 Azure Storage Interview Questions (With Sample Answers)

Updated 1 March 2023

Azure Storage is a scalable and flexible cloud-based storage service that allows developers and organisations to store and retrieve data in various forms, including blobs, files, queues and tables. If a prospective employer interviews you for a role that involves working with Azure Blob Storage, they may ask questions to assess your knowledge and experience. Preparing for such questions can help you succeed in an interview. In this article, we look at some general, experience and background and in-depth interview questions and review a list of sample answers to additional questions to help you prepare for your interview.

Please note that none of the companies, institutions or organisations mentioned in this article are affiliated with Indeed.

10 General Azure Storage Interview Questions

Here are some general Azure storage interview questions to help you prepare for your interview:

How did you hear about this position?
What do you believe is your greatest strength?
What do you believe to be your greatest weakness?
How do you prioritise and manage your workload and projects in a fast-paced IT environment?
What are your salary expectations?
Do you consider yourself a team player?
How do you stay motivated?
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
What is Azure Blob Storage?
What are your interests and hobbies outside of work?

10 Questions About Experience And Background

Here are some broad questions you can expect relating to your experience and background:

Tell us about your professional background.
Can you detail your qualifications and experience?
In what specific areas in IT do you have experience?
What skills do you have that make you suitable for the role?
Can you tell me about a successful IT project you have led or to which you have contributed?
What did you enjoy most about your previous role?
Can you describe a scenario in which it was necessary to communicate technical information to a non-technical audience and how you managed it?
Why did you leave your last job?
How do you manage challenging technical problems and troubleshoot issues?
How many years have you been working in the industry?

10 In-Depth Interview Questions

Here are some questions to prepare that relate to an Azure Storage role:

What tools can you use to manage Azure Blob Storage?
What is the difference between page blobs and blocks?
Can you use more than one partition for a single table?
What type of files can you upload to Azure Blob Storage?
What types of data can you store in Azure Blob Storage?
How can you identify a recently modified file?
What is the maximum file size allowed for uploads?
What are the advantages of Azure Blob Storage over other alternatives?
What are the key components of Azure Blob Storage?
What happens if a file gets damaged while you upload it to Azure?

7 Interview Questions With Sample Answers

Here are some useful questions and answers to help you prepare for an Azure Storage-based interview:

1. How does Azure Blob Storage work?

A hiring manager may ask this question to determine your basic understanding of Azure Blob Storage. When you answer this question, keep your answers as simple as possible rather than using IT jargon. Explain briefly what the service is and how you use it. A good way to demonstrate how well you understand a concept is to imagine that you are describing it to someone without an IT background.

Example: Azure Blob Storage is a service that allows users to store large amounts of data, such as images, videos and documents, in the cloud. You can store blobs in containers that are similar to folders. Each container can store an unlimited number of blobs. Each blob can be up to 4.77 terabytes in size. Users may access blobs via HTTP or HTTPS using a unique URL, and a user can authenticate them using Azure Active Directory or a shared access signature. Azure Blob Storage also supports versioning, data tiering and archiving, which helps optimise storage costs and data durability.

2. Can you explain what object storage is in relation to Azure Blob Storage?

An employer may ask this question to make sure you have a good understanding of how Azure Blob Storage works. Try to answer this question in simple terms. Explain what an object store is and why this is relevant or useful to a customer.

Example: An object store is a data storage system designed to store, manage and retrieve data. This data can include images, videos and documents. They typically provide a simple key-value interface that assigns each object a unique key and associated metadata that a user can use to store and retrieve the object.

3. What are the benefits of Azure Blob Storage?

This is one of the most common Azure Storage interview questions a hiring manager may ask to help ensure that you have a positive opinion of Azure Blob Storage and its benefits in the market. Mention the benefits that it has for file storage. You can also expand on any financial or other relevant benefits.

Example: An object store like Azure Blob storage has several key benefits, such as high scalability and durability. It also offers low costs for storing and retrieving large amounts of data. Object stores often provide built-in data tiering and archiving capabilities, which can help to optimise storage costs and ensure that it protects the data from loss due to hardware failures, software bugs or other issues.

4. Can you use Azure Blob Storage before installing software?

Employers typically want to understand how much you know about Azure Blob Storage. When answering this question, demonstrate your knowledge of the platform. Include more details about how the software works and why it is useful.

Example: It is not necessary to install any software first. You can interact with Azure Blob Storage using Azure Storage SDKs, Azure PowerShell, Azure CLI or the Azure Storage REST API. These tools allow you to create, manage and access your Azure Blob Storage account and its data.

5. What are blob tiers in Azure Blob Storage?

A hiring manager may ask this question to understand your knowledge of how the different tiers work. When answering, show that you know the purpose of each of the three tiers. You can also choose to expand more on which tier is most cost-effective and what kind of client or data storage opportunity each one suits.

Example: A blob tier refers to the storage performance and cost associated with a specific type of blob. Azure Blob storage offers several blob tiers. The hot tier is optimised for frequently accessed data, or that which is accessed at least once a month, with the lowest storage cost. The cool tier is optimised for infrequently accessed data, or that which is accessed less than once a month, and has a higher storage cost than the hot tier. The archive tier is optimised for long-term data retention, or that which is accessed less than once a year, and has the highest storage cost.

6. What happens when you transition data to the archive tier?

A hiring manager may ask this question to assess your understanding of how the different tiers work. Expand on the archive tier's purpose and what happens when you move data to it. You can also include the pros and cons of using this tier.

Example: When you transition data to the archive tier, the system moves the data to a lower-cost storage option designed for long-term retention. Its purpose is to store data you plan to access infrequently, making it the lowest-cost storage option. Data in the archive tier is no longer immediately available for read or write operations. The system transitions the data back to the hot or cool tier to access it. This is the rehydration process, and it may take several hours to complete.

7. How does the rehydration process work?

An employer may ask you this because they want to assess your knowledge of how different processes work in the system and to test your overall knowledge of its functions. Explain what the process means and how you can conduct it. In your answer, you can also explain any limitations to users while the process is taking place.

Example: The rehydration process refers to restoring a previously frozen, or cool, tier blob to the hot storage tier. You can do this by accessing the blob or changing its properties. The duration of the process depends on the blob size and the rate at which the system can read it from cold storage. The user cannot modify or delete the blob until the rehydration process is complete because, until that time, it is read-only. As this process takes time and costs extra money, it is recommended that you use it only infrequently.