Big Data and NoSQL Data Management – Full Assignment
UNIT 1: Big Data
Segment A — Conceptual Understanding
1. Define Big Data and explain the difference between structured, semi-structured, and
unstructured data with suitable examples.
Big Data refers to extremely large datasets that are complex, fast-growing, and varied,
making them difficult to process using traditional data processing methods.
- Structured Data: Organized in rows and columns (e.g., relational databases like MySQL).
- Semi-Structured Data: Partially organized (e.g., JSON, XML files).
- Unstructured Data: No predefined format (e.g., videos, images, audio, social media posts).
2. Explain the evolution of Big Data and why traditional Business Intelligence (BI)
approaches are inadequate for handling Big Data.
Big Data evolved from basic data collection to real-time, predictive analytics due to the rise
of internet, IoT, and cloud computing. Traditional BI systems are limited by structured data
handling, slower processing, and inability to scale horizontally. They lack support for real-
time and unstructured data analytics, which are key in Big Data environments.
Segment B — Analytical Understanding
3. Analyze the significance of the 3Vs (Volume, Velocity, Variety) in Big Data and discuss
how they impact data storage and processing technologies.
- Volume: Refers to massive data quantities. Requires distributed storage like HDFS and
cloud storage.
- Velocity: Speed at which data flows in. Needs stream processing tools like Apache Kafka or
Spark Streaming.
- Variety: Data comes in many formats. Systems must handle structured, semi-structured,
and unstructured data using NoSQL and schema-less databases.
4. Discuss the critical challenges organizations face while adopting Big Data technologies
and suggest ways to overcome them.
Challenges include data security, lack of skilled professionals, integration with legacy
systems, and high infrastructure costs. Solutions involve training, adopting cloud-based Big
Data platforms, implementing data governance, and using hybrid systems to bridge old and
new technologies.
Segment C — Application & Industry Use Cases
5. How is Big Data Analytics applied in the healthcare industry to improve patient care and
operational efficiency?
Big Data helps analyze electronic health records (EHRs), predict disease outbreaks, and
personalize treatments. It improves operational efficiency through resource optimization,
patient flow analysis, and real-time monitoring using IoT and wearables.
6. Discuss how industries like e-commerce, banking, or manufacturing utilize Big Data
Analytics to enhance customer experience and gain business insights.
- E-commerce: Uses recommendation engines, dynamic pricing, and sentiment analysis.
- Banking: Uses fraud detection, credit scoring, and risk management.
- Manufacturing: Uses predictive maintenance, supply chain optimization, and quality
control analytics.
Segment D — Comparative & Decision Making
7. Compare and contrast Traditional Business Intelligence systems with Big Data Analytics
platforms based on scalability, data variety handling, and decision-making capabilities.
Traditional BI: Limited scalability, handles only structured data, and provides historical
insights.
Big Data Analytics: Highly scalable, handles all data types, supports real-time and predictive
decision-making.
8. How does Big Data Analytics support real-time decision-making in sectors like e-
commerce or financial services?
Big Data tools like Spark and Flink enable real-time data processing. In e-commerce, they
help with instant recommendations and fraud detection. In finance, they allow real-time
risk analysis, fraud alerts, and automated trading decisions.
UNIT 2: NoSQL Data Management
Segment A — Conceptual Understanding
1. What is NoSQL? Explain its need in Big Data environments and list its main types with
examples.
NoSQL is a non-relational database system designed for scalability, flexibility, and
performance. It's needed in Big Data to handle unstructured/semi-structured data, and
scale horizontally.
Types:
- Key-Value (Redis)
- Document (MongoDB)
- Columnar (Cassandra)
- Graph (Neo4j)
2. Describe the differences between SQL, NoSQL, and NewSQL databases in terms of data
model, scalability, and transaction support.
SQL: Relational, vertically scalable, strong ACID.
NoSQL: Non-relational, horizontally scalable, eventual consistency.
NewSQL: Relational, horizontally scalable, supports ACID like SQL.
Segment B — Analytical Understanding
3. Analyze how NoSQL databases address the challenges of managing unstructured and
semi-structured data in Big Data applications.
NoSQL databases store data without strict schemas, allowing flexible, hierarchical storage of
JSON, XML, and binary formats. This accommodates rapidly evolving Big Data and supports
large-scale, high-speed access.
4. Discuss the significance of partitioning and aggregation in NoSQL databases and how they
help in handling large datasets.
Partitioning divides data across multiple nodes for performance and scalability. Aggregation
helps summarize large datasets quickly, enhancing reporting and analytics by processing
data in distributed chunks.
Segment C — Application & Industry Use Cases
5. How are NoSQL databases applied in healthcare systems for managing electronic health
records and real-time patient monitoring?
NoSQL databases like MongoDB store patient records with flexible schemas. Real-time
monitoring from wearables is handled using key-value or time-series NoSQL systems,
enabling immediate alerts and treatment interventions.
6. Explain the role of NoSQL databases in e-commerce platforms for inventory management,
customer profiling, and recommendation engines.
Document databases store customer profiles and product catalogs. Key-value stores are
used for cart data and session info. Graph databases enhance recommendations by tracking
user-product relationships.
Segment D — Comparative & Decision Making
7. Evaluate the role of MapReduce in the NoSQL ecosystem and how it supports distributed
data processing in Big Data analytics projects.
MapReduce enables parallel processing across distributed nodes, ideal for analyzing vast
NoSQL datasets. It breaks tasks into Map (filter) and Reduce (aggregate), making processing
scalable and fault-tolerant.
8. Compare the suitability of key-value stores, document stores, and graph databases for
different real-world applications in Big Data.
- Key-Value: Best for caching, session storage (e.g., Redis).
- Document: Ideal for content management, user profiles (e.g., MongoDB).
- Graph: Perfect for relationship analysis like social networks or fraud detection (e.g.,
Neo4j).
