When I was a junior, I proudly said in an interview that I work with 50gb sql server databases. We’ll at that time storage was expensive and this constituted big data for many. Moving some years in the future, and looking at the no sql, big data revolution, it is amazing how far we have come.

As part of my postgraduate honors degree I had to write my first essay. After almost 5 years not studying I have to get back at it. The first essay is an open topic that is related to any technology and/or information systems. I decided that I would pursue Big data as I am interested in the rise of data and the additional research required for the essay will help my understanding. This post summarises that essay and try to look at the different aspects associated with big data and the application of big data.

The amount of data the world produces from diffrent streams has risen exponentially over the years. Managing the data has become paramount to providing information to organisations in order for them to better understand and act on this data. This rise, of large data sets, has also produced new technologies to address how organisations store, capture and process data.

During my research, a number of research articles debated the definition of what constituents Big data. The forever reliable Gartner defines Big Data as “high volume, high-velocity and high variety information assets that demand cost-effective, innovative forms of information processing for enhanced insight and decision making.”