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Big Data Processing Steps
Table of Contents
1. Integrating Disparate Data Stores
2. Mapping Data to the Programming Framework
3. Connecting and Extracting Data from Storage
4. Transforming Data for Processing
5. Subdividing Data in Preparation for Hadoop MapReduce
Putting It All Together:
Integrating disparate data stores, Mapping data to the
programming framework, Connecting and extracting data from
storage, Transforming data
for processing, subdividing data in preparation for Hadoop Map
Reduce.
The tasks you've listed are central to data engineering and big data processing, particularly in
distributed computing frameworks like Hadoop. Here's an explanation of each step in the context
of handling big data:
1. Integrating Disparate Data Stores:
This involves bringing together data from various sources such as relational databases, NoSQL
databases, data lakes, or flat files into a unified system. Techniques like ETL (Extract, Transform,
Load) pipelines or data integration tools (e.g., Apache NiFi, Talend) are commonly used for this.
2. Mapping Data to the Programming Framework:
After integrating data, it needs to be structured and mapped into the format compatible with
the framework (e.g., Hadoop, Spark). This step ensures that the data aligns with the processing
logic and tools. For Hadoop, this often means converting data to formats like SequenceFile,
Avro, or Parquet.
3. Connecting and Extracting Data from Storage:
This step involves accessing data from storage systems, such as HDFS (Hadoop Distributed File
System), S3, or databases, and making it available for processing. Tools like Sqoop (for relational
databases) and Kafka (for real-time streams) are often employed.
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4. Transforming Data for Processing:
Data transformation includes cleaning, filtering, aggregating, and reshaping data to prepare it
for analysis. This ensures compatibility with the processing framework and application logic.
Tools like Apache Pig, Spark SQL, or custom scripts in Python/Scala are commonly used for this
task.
5. Subdividing Data in Preparation for Hadoop MapReduce:
In Hadoop MapReduce, data is divided into smaller chunks (blocks) to enable parallel
processing across multiple nodes in the cluster. This step is crucial for optimizing performance
and efficiency. Hadoop's input format (e.g., TextInputFormat) defines how data is split into
manageable pieces for mappers.
If you're looking to implement or optimize this workflow, let me know the specific challenges or
areas where you'd like more detail!
explain each topic in detail
Certainly! Here's a detailed explanation of each topic you mentioned:
1. Integrating Disparate Data Stores
Definition:
This step involves gathering and consolidating data from different data sources or storage systems,
which may have varying formats, schemas, or structures.
Challenges:
Heterogeneity of Data: Data may come from relational databases, NoSQL systems, flat files, REST
APIs, or streaming systems.
Schema Variations: Different sources might have different field names, data types, or formats.
Latency: Some data sources are batch-oriented, while others may provide real-time updates.
Tools & Techniques:
ETL/ELT Pipelines: Tools like Apache NiFi, Talend, Informatica, or Airflow can be used to extract,
transform, and load data into a unified format.
APIs & Connectors: Many systems provide APIs or connectors to facilitate integration (e.g., JDBC
for databases, REST APIs for web services).
Data Virtualization: Tools like Denodo or Presto allow querying across disparate sources without
physical movement.
Example: You might need to combine customer data from an SQL database with transaction data
stored in a NoSQL database like MongoDB to perform customer behavior analysis.
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2. Mapping Data to the Programming Framework
Definition:
Once the data is integrated, it must be prepared in a structure or format that the chosen
programming framework can process efficiently.
Key Steps:
Format Conversion: Transform raw data into framework-compatible formats like Avro, Parquet,
ORC, or SequenceFile (for Hadoop).
Defining Schemas: Ensure that the data adheres to a schema that the framework can interpret
(e.g., defining column names and types in Spark DataFrames).
Partitioning: Splitting data into logical subsets for parallelism.
Tools & Techniques:
Serialization Formats: Protocol Buffers, Avro, or JSON are often used for exchanging structured
data.
File Formats: Use columnar formats like Parquet for analytics or row-based formats like Avro for
transactional processing.
Example: For Hadoop, you might need to map raw logs into a SequenceFile format, which is
compressed and splittable for efficient processing.
3. Connecting and Extracting Data from Storage
Definition:
This step involves accessing the data stored in different systems and making it available for
processing in the chosen framework.
Challenges:
Connectivity: Establishing secure and reliable connections to various storage systems.
Data Volume: Efficiently reading large datasets without overloading the network or system
resources.
Data Consistency: Ensuring that the extracted data reflects the latest state of the source.
Tools & Techniques:
Data Connectors:
Apache Sqoop: Transfers data between Hadoop and relational databases.
Apache Kafka: Facilitates real-time data streaming.
Storage Systems:
HDFS, Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage for big data frameworks.
Databases like MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Cassandra, etc.
Query Engines: Tools like Apache Presto or Hive for querying data directly.
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Example: Using Sqoop to import a MySQL table into HDFS for further processing with Hadoop
MapReduce.
4. Transforming Data for Processing
Definition:
Data transformation involves cleaning, enriching, and reshaping raw data to prepare it for
processing.
Common Transformations:
Cleaning: Removing duplicates, fixing missing values, and standardizing formats.
Filtering: Selecting relevant subsets of data based on certain conditions.
Aggregation: Summarizing data (e.g., computing averages, sums, or counts).
Normalization: Scaling data to a specific range or format.
Tools & Techniques:
Apache Pig: A scripting platform for transforming large datasets.
Spark SQL: For SQL-like querying and transformations in Apache Spark.
Python/Scala: Writing custom scripts for more complex transformations.
Example: Transforming a dataset of sales records by removing invalid entries, converting
timestamps to a standard format, and calculating total sales per region.
5. Subdividing Data in Preparation for Hadoop MapReduce
Definition:
Hadoop MapReduce works by splitting data into smaller chunks, enabling distributed processing
across a cluster of nodes.
Key Concepts:
Input Splits: Hadoop divides input data into splits, each processed by a mapper.
Data Locality: Splits are assigned to nodes where the data resides to minimize data transfer.
Block Size: HDFS stores data in blocks (default size: 128MB or 256MB), and splits align with these
blocks for efficiency.
Steps in Subdivision:
1. File Input Format: Define how files should be split (e.g., TextInputFormat for line-by-line
processing).
2. Partitioning: Use custom partitioners to control how data is distributed across reducers.
3. Shuffle & Sort: After the Map phase, data is redistributed and sorted before being passed to
reducers.
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Tools & Techniques:
Hadoop InputFormat Classes: Customize how input data is read and split.
Compression: Use splittable compression formats (e.g., bzip2) for optimized storage and
processing.
Example: Processing a 1TB dataset stored in HDFS. The data is split into 8MB chunks, with each
mapper handling one chunk to calculate word frequencies.
Putting It All Together:
1. Integrate customer data from SQL, NoSQL, and cloud storage.
2. Map the data to Parquet format for compatibility with Spark.
3. Extract it into Spark using HDFS or S3 connectors.
4. Transform it by cleaning, filtering, and summarizing purchase data.
5. Subdivide it into chunks for MapReduce to calculate customer segmentation metrics.
This workflow ensures efficient, scalable, and reliable big data processing.
