Introduction to Big Data

In order to understand 'Big Data' let's start with data.

What is Data? 

Data is a set of characters. It includes plain text, video, image, numbers, music, observation.

This data can be stored and transmitted in electrical signals and recorded on magnetic tapes, optical drives, etc. 

What is Big Data?

Big Data is also data but in a huge amount. Big Data is a term used to describe the collection of data in huge amount and still growing exponentially with time. Its quantity is so large and complex that no traditional data management tools can handle and analyze it properly.

Growth Of Data

IBM reported that 2.5 billion gigabytes of data were generated every day in 2012. It is predicted by 2020:

• About 1.7 megabytes of new information will be generated for every human, every second.
• 40,000 search queries will be performed on Google every second.
• 300 hours of video will be uploaded to YouTube every minute.
• 31.25 million messages will be sent and 2.77 million videos viewed by Facebook users.
• 80% of the photos will be taken on smartphones.
• At least a third of all data will pass through the cloud.

The exponential growth of data by 2020:

Big Data: Case Study

• Netflix is one of the largest providers of commercial streaming videos around the globe with a customer base of over 50 million.

     It receives a huge volume amount of data that is analyzed by Netflix to provide a better experience to the user.

• When do users watch a show?
•  How often do they pause the program?
• Do they skip credits?
• Where do they watch it?
• What are the keywords searched?

• Linkedin with over 500+ million users across 200+ countries. Linkedin uses data for the recommendation system. The data from the user profile is used to build a comprehensive picture of the user and its connection. Linkedin knows who you used to connect with and where to apply for a job.