Azure Service Fabric: An In-Depth Interview on Its Features and Functionalities
Dive into this comprehensive interview to understand the intricacies of Microsoft Azure Service Fabric, a platform that’s redefining the way we think about microservices and cloud application management.
Q: What is Microsoft Azure Service Fabric and its primary purpose?
A: Microsoft Azure Service Fabric is a distributed systems platform that simplifies the process of creating, deploying, and managing scalable and reliable microservices. It’s designed to solve significant challenges in developing and managing cloud applications.
Q: What is a Service Fabric Cluster in the context of Azure?
A: In Azure, a Service Fabric Cluster is essentially a network-connected group of virtual or physical machines where your microservices are deployed and managed. These clusters can scale to thousands of machines.
Q: How would you describe the role of application instances in Azure Service Fabric?
A: Application instances in Azure Service Fabric are essentially the running instances of a specific application type. They can operate independently, even if they are on the same Service Fabric node. Each instance has a unique name within a cluster and can be managed and versioned independently.
Q: What is a node in Azure Fabric Service?
A: In Azure Fabric Service, a node is a unit that can be addressed within a cluster. Each node has unique identifiers and placement properties, and a cluster can consist of multiple nodes.
Q: Is there a minimum size limit for a cluster in Azure? If so, why?
A: Yes, Azure requires a minimum of five nodes for a production environment and three nodes for dev/test environments in a Service Cluster. This requirement is due to the fact that Azure runs a set of Stateful Services that rely on consistency, which in turn depends on the ability of a service to achieve a quorum for state updates.
Q: What is a Service type in the context of Azure Service Fabric?
A: A service type in Azure Service Fabric is a code or configuration unit that operates independently. An application type can include multiple service types.
Q: How would you define a Service instance in Azure Service Fabric?
A: A Service instance in Azure Service Fabric is the instantiated code for each service type. Each service instance is associated with a specific application instance and has a unique name.
Q: What is an application package in Azure Service Fabric?
A: An application package in Azure Service Fabric consists of service code packages and configuration files for a specific application. For example, an email application package might include a front-end service package, a queue service package, and a database service package.
Q: How would you describe a MicroService?
A: MicroService applications are composed of scalable, compact, standalone, and customer-centric services that communicate with each other using standard protocols and well-defined interfaces.
Q: What are the different types of MicroServices in Azure Service Fabric?
A: In Azure Service Fabric, there are two types of MicroServices: Stateless and Stateful. Stateless MicroServices do not maintain a mutable state outside of a request and its response. On the other hand, Stateful MicroServices maintain a mutable state beyond the request and its response.
Q: What is an Application type in Azure Service Fabric?
A: In Azure Service Fabric, an Application type is a collection of one or more service types. In other words, it can be described as a collection of microservices.
Q: What are the programming models available in Azure Service Fabric?
A: Azure Service Fabric provides two programming models: Reliable Services and Reliable Actors. Reliable Services is an API that allows the development of both stateful and stateless services. Reliable Actors is an API that allows the creation of stateless and stateful objects using the virtual actor programming model.
Q: How does Azure Service Fabric handle service reliability?
A: Azure Service Fabric ensures service reliability by maintaining multiple replicas of stateful services and instances of stateless services. If a node fails, Azure Service Fabric moves the replicas or instances to other nodes, ensuring that the services continue to be available.
Q: What is the role of the naming service in Azure Service Fabric?
A: The naming service in Azure Service Fabric is a system service that maintains and resolves named services’ addresses. It ensures that clients can access services even when their addresses change due to failovers.
Q: How does Azure Service Fabric manage service upgrades without downtime?
A: Azure Service Fabric performs upgrades domain by domain in a rolling manner, which means only a subset of nodes are taken down at a time for the upgrade. This ensures that the service remains available during the upgrade process.