Azure Data

Factory (ADF)
scenario-based
interview questions

Project by Prominent Academy

Scenario:
Your organization wants to integrate ADF with an Event Hub
to process real-time streaming data.
Questions:
How would you set up ADF to process data from an Event
Hub?
What are the limitations of using ADF for real-time
processing?
How does ADF integrate with other Azure services like
Stream Analytics for real-time use cases?

Scenario:
You have a large dataset stored in Azure Data Lake that needs
to be processed by date partitions.
Questions:
How would you design a pipeline to process data in
partitions?
What are the advantages of data partitioning in ADF?
How would you use dynamic expressions to process each
partition dynamically?

Scenario:
You have multiple pipelines, and one pipeline should only start
after the successful completion of another.
Questions:
How would you implement dependencies between pipelines
in ADF?
What are the pros and cons of using execute pipeline
activity versus trigger chaining?
How would you handle scenarios where one pipeline fails but
others should continue?
Scenario:
You have a master pipeline that orchestrates the execution of
multiple child pipelines. Some child pipelines are dependent on
the output of others.
Questions:
How would you design the master pipeline to handle
dependencies between child pipelines?
What are the differences between the "Wait" and "If
Condition" activities in this context?
How would you monitor and troubleshoot issues in a
complex pipeline execution?

Scenario:
Your pipeline needs to be triggered whenever a file is uploaded
to a specific container in Azure Blob Storage.
Questions:
How would you set up an event-based trigger in ADF?
What are the advantages and limitations of using event-
based triggers?
How would you handle scenarios where multiple files are
uploaded simultaneously?

Scenario:
Your pipeline frequently encounters transient network issues
when copying data from an on-premises database to Azure SQL
Database.
Questions:
How would you implement retry logic to handle transient
errors?
What settings in ADF activities allow for retries and delays?
How would you monitor and alert on excessive retries in
pipeline executions?
Scenario:
You are required to process only the files uploaded in the last 24
hours from Azure Blob Storage.
Questions:
How would you filter files based on their upload timestamp?
What expressions or functions would you use to calculate
time-based conditions?
How would you handle time zone differences when filtering
files?

Scenario:
Your pipeline processes files daily from Azure Blob Storage and
loads them into Azure SQL Database. Duplicate files
occasionally appear in the storage container.
Questions:
How would you design a pipeline to identify and skip
duplicate files?
How would you use metadata (e.g., file names or hashes) to
track processed files?
How would you recover if a duplicate file causes partial data
corruption?

Scenario:
Your pipelines process a daily batch of files, and you need to
ensure that if a pipeline fails, it can resume from the last
successfully processed file.
Questions:
How would you implement state management to track
processed files?
What role do control tables play in this scenario?
How would you ensure idempotency in pipeline executions?
Scenario:
You need to process data from multiple Azure regions and
consolidate it into a central Azure Data Lake in a cost-efficient
manner.
Questions:
How would you design a pipeline to handle geo-distributed
data?
What are the cost and performance considerations for
cross-region data transfers?
How can you use regional Integration Runtimes to optimize
performance?

Scenario:
You are responsible for ensuring data quality before loading it
into the destination system. This includes null checks, duplicate
checks, and threshold-based validations.
Questions:
How would you implement data quality checks in ADF?
What role do Data Flow transformations like Filter,
Aggregate, and Exists play in these checks?
How would you handle rows that fail quality checks?

Scenario:
Your pipeline processes sensitive financial data that needs to be
encrypted during transit and at rest.
Questions:
How would you ensure end-to-end encryption for sensitive
data in ADF?
How can you use Azure Key Vault for managing credentials
and encryption keys?
What security best practices would you follow to secure
data pipelines?
Scenario:
You need to process data stored in partitions (e.g.,
year/month/day folders), but only for specific time ranges based
on runtime parameters.
Questions:
How would you configure the Copy Activity or Data Flow to
read specific partitions dynamically?
What functions or expressions would you use to skip
unnecessary partitions?
How can you optimize pipeline performance when dealing
with highly partitioned data?

Scenario:
You are tasked with processing unstructured data like log files or
free-form text stored in Azure Blob Storage.
Questions:
How would you handle unstructured data in ADF?
What external tools (e.g., Databricks, Cognitive Services) can
you integrate with ADF for parsing or extracting insights?
How would you transform this data into a structured format
for downstream processing?

Scenario:
You have a pipeline with multiple parallel activities, and one of
the activities fails intermittently due to source system issues.
Questions:
How would you implement exception handling for individual
activities in ADF?
How can you ensure that the pipeline continues processing
unaffected branches?
What strategies would you use to retry or log failed
activities?
Scenario:
Your pipeline needs to process files dynamically based on folder
structure and file patterns in Azure Data Lake.
Questions:
How would you use wildcard file paths in ADF to process
specific files?
How can you create folders dynamically based on runtime
parameters?
What are the challenges of managing large numbers of
folders and files, and how would you address them?

Scenario:
Your team needs to collaborate with another team to build
pipelines that share dependencies and datasets.
Questions:
How would you manage shared resources (e.g., Linked
Services, Datasets) across teams?
What strategies would you use to avoid conflicts in pipeline
development?
How can Git integration help streamline collaboration
between teams?

Scenario:
You need to notify stakeholders immediately when a pipeline or
activity fails, including error details.
Questions:
How would you implement real-time error notifications using
Azure Monitor or Logic Apps?
How can you configure email or SMS alerts for pipeline
failures?
What are the key metrics and logs to monitor for proactive
issue detection?
Scenario:
You are part of a large organization with multiple teams working
on separate ADF projects. Central governance is required for
Linked Services, triggers, and naming conventions.
Questions:
How would you implement centralized governance for ADF
projects?
How can Azure Policy or Resource Manager templates
enforce naming conventions?
What strategies would you use to manage shared Linked
Services across teams?

Scenario:
You need to load data from multiple sources into corresponding
tables in a destination, with dynamic schema mapping.
Questions:
How would you configure dynamic sink mapping in a Copy
Activity?
How can parameterization help in automating schema
mapping?
What challenges might you encounter when handling
mismatched schemas?

Scenario:
You need to implement data retention policies for your pipelines,
ensuring that data older than a certain period is deleted or
archived.
Questions:
How would you automate data retention policies in ADF?
What role does the Delete Activity play in this process?
How can you monitor and validate the successful execution
of retention policies?
Scenario:
You need to process semi-structured data (e.g., JSON files with
varying schemas) stored in Azure Blob Storage.
Questions:
How would you handle schema variability while processing
semi-structured data in ADF?
What transformations would you use in Mapping Data Flows
to parse JSON data?
How can you flatten hierarchical data structures for
downstream consumption?

Scenario:
Your pipeline processes files in batches based on their upload
time, dynamically creating batches for every 24-hour period.
Questions:
How would you design a pipeline to identify and process
dynamic file batches?
How can you use metadata from Azure Blob Storage to
determine batch boundaries?
What challenges might arise in handling late-arriving files,
and how would you address them?

Scenario:
Your pipelines need to adapt dynamically based on metadata,
such as file names, schema definitions, or transformation rules
stored in a database.
Questions:
How would you design a metadata-driven pipeline in ADF?
How can Lookup and ForEach Activities be used to retrieve
and apply metadata?
What are the advantages of a metadata-driven approach in
large-scale ETL processes?
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