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Big data analytics

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Abstract

The volume and variety of data being generated using computers is doubling every two years. It is estimated that in 2015, 8 Zettabytes (Zetta=1021) were generated which consisted mostly of unstructured data such as emails, blogs, Twitter, Facebook posts, images, and videos. This is called big data. It is possible to analyse such huge data collections with clusters of thousands of inexpensive computers to discover patterns in the data that have many applications. But analysing massive amounts of data available in the Internet has the potential of impinging on our privacy. Inappropriate analysis of big data can lead to misleading conclusions. In this article, we explain what is big data, how it is analysed, and give some case studies illustrating the potentials and pitfalls of big data analytics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Supercomputer Education and Research Centre, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, 560 012, India

    V. Rajaraman

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  1. V. Rajaraman
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Correspondence to V. Rajaraman.

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V Rajaraman is at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. Several generations of scientists and engineers in India have learnt computer science using his lucidly written textbooks on programming and computer fundamentals. His current research interests are parallel computing and history of computing.

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Rajaraman, V. Big data analytics. Reson 21, 695–716 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-016-0376-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-016-0376-7

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