Department of Management Studies

Data Engineering End-To-End Cloud Project

“Azure Data Superstore Pipeline: End-to-

End Data Engineering and Visualization”

Program: MBA-AI&DS
Year & Semester: III SEM

Session: 2024-2025

Supervision by: Submitted by:

Dr. Chandra Prakash Name: Kartikey Chaurasia
Assistant Professor, DOMS Roll No.: 1404320
Enrollment No.: GE - 23144320

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Azure Data Superstore Pipeline: End-to-End Data Engineering and
Visualization

Introduction
In today’s data-driven world, the ability to process, analyze, and visualize large
volumes of data efficiently is paramount. Organizations rely on seamless data
pipelines to derive actionable insights that drive decision-making. This project is a
practical implementation of a modern data engineering pipeline built using
Microsoft Azure services. The goal is to process and analyze transactional sales
data from the SampleSuperstore.csv dataset and present meaningful insights
through interactive dashboards.
The project incorporates cutting-edge Azure technologies such as Azure Data
Factory, Azure Data Lake Gen 2, Azure Synapse Analytics, and Azure
Databricks, along with visualization tools like Power BI. By leveraging these
tools, this project demonstrates the end-to-end process of data ingestion,
transformation, storage, analysis, and visualization. It serves as a comprehensive
example of how cloud-based solutions can streamline the data engineering
lifecycle while ensuring scalability, reliability, and efficiency.

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Project Overview
This project demonstrates the implementation of a comprehensive data
engineering pipeline leveraging Microsoft Azure services. The primary objective
is to process and transform the SampleSuperstore.csv dataset, which contains
transactional sales data, into actionable insights. This pipeline utilizes Azure Data
Factory for data movement, Azure Data Lake Gen 2 for storage, Azure Synapse
Analytics for querying and analysis, Azure Databricks for data transformation,
and Power BI for visualization and reporting.

Tools and Services Used

Microsoft Azure Services
1. Azure Data Factory (ADF):
o Orchestrates the movement and integration of data across various
services.
o Ensures seamless automation and scheduling of data workflows.

2. Azure Data Lake Gen 2:

o Provides scalable and secure storage for structured and unstructured
data.
o Serves as the repository for raw and processed datasets.

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3. Azure Synapse Analytics:
o Facilitates querying and analysis of large datasets using SQL pools.
o Supports advanced analytics and data warehousing capabilities.

4. Azure Databricks:
o Enables distributed data processing and machine learning using
Apache Spark.
o Performs data cleansing, transformation, and enrichment.

5. Power BI:
o Visualizes data through interactive dashboards and reports.
o Provides intuitive tools for business intelligence.

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Steps in the Data Pipeline:-

Step 1: Data Collection and Storage

1. Setup Azure Data Lake Gen 2:
• Create a new storage account in Azure.

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 • Enable the hierarchical namespace to support Data Lake Gen 2
capabilities.
• Use Azure Storage Explorer to upload the SampleSuperstore.csv dataset
into a designated container.

2. Dataset Description:
• The SampleSuperstore.csv dataset contains columns such as Order Date,
Region, Sales, Profit, and Category, providing transactional and
geographic insights.

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Step 2: Data Movement Using Azure Data Factory
1. Create Azure Data Factory Instance:
• Navigate to the Azure portal and set up a new Data Factory.

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• Define linked services for both the source (Data Lake) and the target
(Synapse Analytics).

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2. Pipeline Design:
• Use the Copy Data activity to transfer data from the Data Lake to
Synapse Analytics.

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 • Configure additional transformations such as column mapping or filtering
as required.

• Automate the pipeline using scheduled triggers to ensure timely updates.

Step 3: Data Transformation Using Azure Databricks

1. Setup Databricks Workspace:
• Create a Databricks workspace and configure a Spark cluster.

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• Attach the cluster to the workspace for distributed processing.

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2. Data Processing:
• Mount the Azure Data Lake Gen 2 storage to the Databricks environment
for seamless data access.

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• Use Spark DataFrame APIs for reading, transforming, and writing data.

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3. Transformation Activities:
• Handle missing data by filling or removing null values.
• Remove duplicate rows to ensure data integrity.
• Calculate derived metrics, such as Profit Margin using formula-based
transformations.

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4. Write Processed Data:
• Save the transformed dataset back to Data Lake Gen 2 or directly into
Synapse Analytics for further analysis.

Step 4: Data Analysis Using Azure Synapse Analytics

1. Setup Synapse SQL Pools:
• Configure Synapse Analytics SQL pools to optimize data storage and
retrieval.
• Load the transformed dataset into Synapse tables.
2. SQL Queries:
• Perform detailed analysis using SQL queries to identify sales trends,
profitability, and geographic performance.

3. Performance Optimization:
• Create indexes and materialized views to enhance query execution speed.

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Step 5: Visualization Using Power BI

1. Connect Power BI to Synapse Analytics:

• Use the native Azure Synapse connector in Power BI Desktop to access
processed data.
2. Dashboard Creation:
o Design dashboards featuring:
▪ Total and regional sales metrics.
▪ Profitability trends across product categories.
▪ Comparative analysis by customer segments and regions.
3. Sharing Insights:
• Publish the dashboard to the Power BI Service.
• Configure access controls and sharing permissions for stakeholders.

Power BI Dashboard

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Project Architecture Diagram
The architecture of the project includes the following components:

❖ Data Lake Gen 2: Serves as the centralized storage for raw and transformed
datasets.
❖ Azure Data Factory: Orchestrates data transfer and ensures workflows are
automated.
❖ Azure Databricks: Performs distributed processing and complex data
transformations.
❖ Synapse Analytics: Stores processed data and provides analytical
capabilities.
❖ Power BI: Visualizes data and provides actionable insights to stakeholders.

Challenges Faced and Solutions

1. Large Dataset Handling:
• Challenge: Initial slow query performance in Synapse Analytics.
• Solution: Implemented data partitioning and indexing strategies to enhance
performance.
2. Access Issues:
• Challenge: Difficulty in connecting Azure services due to insufficient
permissions.
• Solution: Configured role-based access control (RBAC) and granted
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 appropriate permissions.
3. Data Transformation Performance:
• Challenge: Slow processing of large datasets in Databricks.
• Solution: Utilized optimized Spark configurations and parallel processing.

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Conclusion
This project highlights the integration of Azure cloud technologies to create an
end-to-end data engineering solution. It ensures efficient data processing, robust
analysis, and insightful visualization, offering scalable and reliable tools for
modern business intelligence needs.

Appendix
Prerequisites
• Active Azure Subscription.
• Power BI Desktop installed on a local machine.
• Familiarity with SQL, Python, and Azure cloud services.

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