B. Automating the deployment of test environments with Azure DevOps and executing integration tests using simulated data is the optimal strategy for comprehensive pipeline testing. This method facilitates the efficient setup and dismantling of test environments and employs mock data to replicate real-world scenarios, ensuring data flows seamlessly through the pipeline. It effectively highlights any integration issues between components. A. Conducting performance testing solely on the Azure Databricks processing stage overlooks potential issues in data ingestion and loading phases. C. Creating unit tests for each component and manually verifying the integration points lacks the automation needed for thorough integration testing. D. Depending on manual end-to-end testing is inefficient and susceptible to human error, making it less reliable than automated solutions.