Streaming Data Ingestion for Real-time AI Analysis on Azure

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

To set up a streaming data ingestion system for real-time AI analysis on Azure, we'll need to create a few resources to achieve a seamless pipeline:

1. **Azure Event Hubs**: This service will act as the entry point for the stream data. It's a highly scalable data streaming platform and event ingestion service that can receive and process millions of events per second.

2. **Azure Stream Analytics**: After the data is ingested through Azure Event Hubs, we use Azure Stream Analytics to process the data in real-time. This allows us to run real-time analytics computations on streaming data from devices, sensors, applications, and more.

3. **Azure Functions**: With AI analysis, you often have to apply machine learning models to the incoming streaming data. Azure Functions can be used to deploy an AI model that processes the data obtained from the Stream Analytics job.

4. **Azure Blob Storage**: As a final step, we'll need a place to store the output. Azure Blob Storage can be utilized to store the results of our real-time analysis for later use or further batch processing.

Below is a Pulumi program written in Python that demonstrates how you can create each part of this streaming data ingestion pipeline:

```python
import pulumi
import pulumi_azure_native as azure_native

# Create an Azure Resource Group
resource_group = azure_native.resources.ResourceGroup("resource_group")

# Create an Azure Event Hubs Namespace
event_hub_namespace = azure_native.eventhub.Namespace("event_hub_ns",
    resource_group_name=resource_group.name,
    sku=azure_native.eventhub.SkuArgs(
        name="Standard",
        tier="Standard",
    ),
    location=resource_group.location
)

# Event Hub in the namespace
event_hub = azure_native.eventhub.EventHub("event_hub",
    resource_group_name=resource_group.name,
    namespace_name=event_hub_namespace.name,
)

# Stream Analytics Job to process the data from Event Hub
stream_analytics_job = azure_native.streamanalytics.StreamingJob("stream_analytics_job",
    location=resource_group.location,
    resource_group_name=resource_group.name,
    sku=azure_native.streamanalytics.SkuArgs(
        name="Standard",
    ),
    events_out_of_order_policy="Adjust",
    output_error_policy="Drop",
    events_out_of_order_max_delay_in_seconds=5,
    events_late_arrival_max_delay_in_seconds=16,
    compatibility_level="1.0"
    # Stream analytics job requires Transformation query, Inputs, and Outputs
    # which are typically defined based on specific needs and include complex queries
)

# Azure Function App, where we can deploy and run our AI model to process data
function_app = azure_native.web.WebApp("function_app",
    resource_group_name=resource_group.name,
    server_farm_id="/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroup}/providers/Microsoft.Web/serverfarms/{appServicePlan}",
    location=resource_group.location
    # To deploy your AI model, you would need to define the specifics of how it's deployed
    # such as the type of trigger (event driven from Stream Analytics, for example)
)

# Azure Blob Storage account to store the results
storage_account = azure_native.storage.StorageAccount("storage_account",
    resource_group_name=resource_group.name,
    sku=azure_native.storage.SkuArgs(
        name=azure_native.storage.SkuName.STANDARD_LRS
    ),
    kind="StorageV2",
    location=resource_group.location,
)

# Blob container in the storage account
blob_container = azure_native.storage.BlobContainer("blob_container",
    resource_group_name=resource_group.name,
    account_name=storage_account.name
)

# Finally, export the URLs we need to access
pulumi.export("Event Hub Namespace", event_hub_namespace.name)
pulumi.export("Event Hub", event_hub.name)
pulumi.export("Function App", function_app.name)
pulumi.export("Storage Account", storage_account.name)
pulumi.export("Blob Container", blob_container.name)
```

Each block of code creates a necessary component of the data pipeline in Azure. The resources are created in a sequence that reflects their role in the pipeline, starting with the event ingestion service (Azure Event Hubs), the real-time analytics service (Azure Stream Analytics), the compute (Azure Functions) where the AI analysis will occur, and finally the storage (Azure Blob Storage) where the results are saved.

Remember to replace `{subscriptionId}`, `{resourceGroup}`, and `{appServicePlan}` with your Azure Subscription ID, Resource Group name, and App Service Plan name respectively in the `function_app` resource. You can deploy your AI model by creating or updating Azure Function code, considering the specifics of the triggers and bindings depending on your real-time analytics needs.

This program sets up the basic infrastructure for streaming data ingestion and processing. The actual AI analysis part, which involves the application of machine learning models to the streaming data, would typically be done within the Azure Functions. It would involve writing specific functions to handle events from Azure Event Hubs, process them using your AI models, and then output the results to Azure Blob Storage.