Question 1: What is Microsoft Fabric?

Answer: Unified SaaS analytics platform combining data lake (OneLake), data engineering, data science, data warehousing, and Power BI. Simplifies analytics stack.

Question 2: What is OneLake?

Answer: Single, unified data lake storage layer for all Fabric workloads. Eliminates data silos. Supports Delta Lake format and shortcuts to external storage.

Question 3: What is the difference between Fabric and Synapse?

Answer: Fabric: SaaS platform with unified storage (OneLake), simpler management. Synapse: PaaS service with dedicated/serverless pools, more control. Fabric is simpler; Synapse is more flexible.

Question 4: What are Fabric Shortcuts?

Answer: Symbolic links to external storage (ADLS, S3, Dataverse) without copying data. Enables unified access without data movement.

Question 5: What is the Lakehouse pattern in Fabric?

Answer: Combines data lake storage with data warehouse capabilities. Uses Spark compute to query Delta tables in OneLake.

Question 6: What compute engines does Fabric provide?

Answer: Spark (Lakehouse), SQL (Warehouse), Data Factory (pipelines), Real-Time Intelligence, and Power BI. All share OneLake storage.

Question 7: What is the benefit of Fabric's SaaS model?

Answer: No infrastructure management, automatic scaling, unified billing, and simplified administration. Focus on analytics, not infrastructure.

Question 8: How does Fabric handle data governance?

Answer: Purview integration for discovery/classification, OneLake security, workspace access controls, and lineage tracking.

Question 9: What is Fabric Data Factory?

Answer: Simplified data integration within Fabric. Visual pipeline authoring with 150+ connectors. Runs on Fabric compute.

Question 10: What is Real-Time Intelligence in Fabric?

Answer: Real-time data processing with Event Hubs, Stream Analytics, and KQL databases. Enables real-time dashboards and analytics.

Question 11: How does Fabric handle data sharing?

Answer: OneLake sharing across workspaces, domain-based organization, and data marketplace for external sharing.

Question 12: What is the benefit of Fabric's unified model?

Answer: Single copy of data accessible by all engines. No data movement between services. Reduced storage costs and complexity.

Question 13: How does Fabric compare to Databricks?

Answer: Fabric: SaaS, unified platform, simpler management. Databricks: PaaS, Spark-focused, more control. Use Fabric for simplicity; Databricks for Spark expertise.

Question 14: What is Fabric Warehouse?

Answer: SQL-based data warehouse in Fabric. T-SQL compatible, serverless compute, and integration with OneLake.

Question 15: How does Fabric handle security?

Answer: Azure AD integration, workspace-level access, item-level permissions, sensitivity labels, and encryption at rest/in transit.

Question 16: What is the benefit of Fabric's OneLake?

Answer: Single source of truth, no data duplication, unified governance, and cost efficiency (single storage account).

Question 17: How does Fabric support data engineering?

Answer: Lakehouse with Spark, Data Factory pipelines, notebooks, job scheduling, and Unity Catalog integration.

Question 18: What is Fabric's pricing model?

Answer: Capacity-based (Fabric SKUs). Includes compute, storage, and Power BI. No separate costs for individual services.

Question 19: How does Fabric handle data migration?

Answer: Data Factory pipelines, shortcuts for external data, and integration with Azure migration services.

Question 20: What is the benefit of Fabric's lakehouse?

Answer: Combines data lake flexibility with data warehouse reliability. Delta Lake ACID transactions on OneLake storage.

Question 21: How does Fabric support data science?

Answer: Notebooks with Spark/R/Python, MLflow integration, model management, and feature engineering.

Question 22: What is the difference between Fabric and Power BI?

Answer: Fabric: Data platform (storage, compute, integration). Power BI: Visualization and reporting. Fabric includes Power BI as a component.

Question 23: How does Fabric handle real-time analytics?

Answer: Real-Time Intelligence with KQL databases, Event Hubs integration, and streaming dashboards.

Question 24: What is the benefit of Fabric's unified governance?

Answer: Consistent policies across all workloads, single catalog, lineage tracking, and compliance automation.

Question 25: What is the future of Fabric?

Answer: Deeper AI integration, expanded connectors, enhanced governance, and continued SaaS simplification.