Understanding Big Data: Volume, Velocity, Variety, Veracity, and Value

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. The Concept of Big Data
   1. Volume
   2. Velocity
   3. Variety
   4. Veracity
   5. Value
3. Storing and Processing Big Data
   1. Hadoop Distributed File System
   2. MapReduce Technique
   3. Parallel Processing
4. Analyzing Big Data
   1. Applications in Gaming
   2. Disaster Management
5. The Future of Big Data
6. Conclusion
7. FAQs

The Concept of Big Data

We all use smartphones, but have You ever wondered how much data it generates in the form of Texts, phone calls, emails, photos, videos, searches, and music? Approximately 40 exabytes of data get generated every month by a single smartphone user. Now imagine this number multiplied by 5 billion smartphone users. That's a lot for our mind even to process, isn't it? In fact, this amount of data is quite a lot for traditional computing systems to handle, and this massive amount of data is what we term as big data.

Let's have a look at the data generated per minute on the internet. 2.1 million snaps are shared on Snapchat, 3.8 million search queries are made on Google, one million people log onto Facebook, 4.5 million videos are watched on YouTube, and 188 million emails are sent. That's a lot of data. So how do you classify any data as big data? This is possible with the concept of five V's: volume, velocity, variety, veracity, and value. Let us understand this with an example from the healthcare industry.

Hospitals and clinics across the world generate massive volumes of data. 2314 exabytes of data are collected annually in the form of patient records and test results. All this data is generated at a very high speed, which attributes to the velocity of big data. Variety refers to the various data types, such as structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data. Examples include Excel records, log files, and X-ray images. Accuracy and trustworthiness of the generated data are termed as veracity. Analyzing all this data will benefit the medical sector by enabling faster disease detection, better treatment, and reduced cost. This is known as the value of big data.

Storing and Processing Big Data

But how do we store and process this big data? To do this job, we have various frameworks such as Cassandra, Hadoop, and Spark. Let us take Hadoop as an example and see how Hadoop stores and processes big data.

Hadoop uses a distributed file system known as Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) to store big data. If you have a huge file, your file will be broken down into smaller chunks and stored in various machines. Not only that, when you break the file, you also make copies of it, which goes into different nodes. This way, you store your big data in a distributed way and make sure that even if one machine fails, your data is safe on another.

MapReduce technique is used to process big data. A lengthy task A is broken into smaller tasks B, C, and D. Now, instead of one machine, three machines take up each task and complete it in a parallel fashion and assemble the results at the end. Thanks to this, the processing becomes easy and fast. This is known as parallel processing.

Analyzing Big Data

Now that we have stored and processed our big data, we can analyze this data for numerous applications. In games like Halo 3 and Call of Duty, designers analyze user data to understand at which stage most of the users pause, restart, or quit playing. This Insight can help them rework on the storyline of the game and improve the user experience, which in turn reduces the customer churn rate.

Similarly, big data also helped with disaster management during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. It was used to gain a better understanding of the storm's effect on the east coast of the U.S., and necessary measures were taken. It could predict the hurricane's landfall five days in advance, which wasn't possible earlier.

The Future of Big Data

The future of big data is exciting. With the advent of artificial intelligence and machine learning, big data will play a crucial role in shaping the future. It will help in predicting natural disasters, improving healthcare, and making our lives easier. The possibilities are endless.

Conclusion

In conclusion, big data is a game-changer. It has the potential to revolutionize the way we live, work, and Interact with the world. With the right tools and techniques, we can harness the power of big data and use it to our AdVantage.

FAQs

Q: What is big data? A: Big data refers to the massive amount of data generated by various sources such as smartphones, social media, and the internet.

Q: How is big data stored and processed? A: Big data is stored and processed using various frameworks such as Hadoop, Cassandra, and Spark. Hadoop uses a distributed file system known as Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) to store big data. MapReduce technique is used to process big data.

Q: What are the five V's of big data? A: The five V's of big data are volume, velocity, variety, veracity, and value.

Q: What is the future of big data? A: The future of big data is exciting. With the advent of artificial intelligence and machine learning, big data will play a crucial role in shaping the future. It will help in predicting natural disasters, improving healthcare, and making our lives easier.