Dark data is data that has been accumulated by organizations over a long time. Most companies didn’t have the necessary computer systems to process all of this data at the time they captured it. Data was therefore stored away until computers could process it, even though it was unstructured or asymmetric.
Cloud computing providers such as Microsoft Azure can now help to analyze dark data and provide insights against it. This system allows users, namely business managers, to view and explore different types of analyses using visually interactive dashboards.
The end result? Companies can gain insights faster and produce them intuitively.
A Quick Overview of Azure Tools and Services
Microsoft Azure’s products and tools have enabled companies to make better use of their dark and big data. They now have platforms that can store and analyze almost any type of data.
SPOTO offers core data workloads and data analytics conceptsRelated training
You can start training using a variety tools and products that Microsoft Azure offers. Below is information about the tools and applications you will use to manage your data on the Azure platform.
Azure Synapse Analytics
This interactive data exploration tool allows users to quickly model and analyze data in a variety ways with simple visual interfaces. These interfaces allow business managers to create insights that they can share or integrate into other applications and websites.
1. Storage
Big data projects require storage. How big data is stored will affect how it can be accessed. Azure Storage Services facilitates the storage of large amounts by breaking it down into smaller chunks that are easier to access.
2. Calculate
Once your data is stored, you will need to work on it to generate valuable insights. Azure allows users to quickly and easily manage large data sets and generate insights.
3. Warehousing (SQL).
This is where data is identified and categorized. Then it can be manipulated or worked with. This data can be stored in SQL, which is the most popular format.
Azure Synapse Analytics is able to interact with all three components and provide administrative and management insight on all data.
It can be used to achieve important organizational goals, such as managing costs, improving efficiency, and reducing time to insight.
HDInsight
HDInsight is a product designed to work with a variety data frameworks. This product was developed by Microsoft to allow companies to see how their business is performing and what they could do about it.
HDInsight analyzes data from a variety of sources and provides insight into how businesses manage it. HDInsight allows data to be streamed directly into Azure, where it can then be processed and analyzed in real-time.
This is extremely valuable as it allows companies to gain greater insight and analysis without waiting for periodic reports, which are often done over the weekend or night.
Data Frameworks: Data frameworks allow applications to interact with specific data sets. They provide a common language that allows seamless data-application interactions. A data framework is required if your stored data doesn’t provide a common format or language.
Spark: If you have Spark projects or data commitments, you can integrate these into Azure with HDInsight. This is extremely important because it means you don’t have to start over just to get started.
