ABSTRACT
The term “Big Data” has been in use since the 1990s and typically characterized by increasing volume (amount of data), velocity (speed of data in and out) and variety (range of data types and sources). For Big Data applications to be useful, the data needs to be stored, processed and delivered in a comprehensible format so that it can be used effectively. Data volumes are growing very quickly – especially unstructured data – at a typical rate of around 50% annually. There are many reasons behind this massive explosion of data. As capabilities of hardware increase and prices decline, digitization of information becomes cost-effective and sensible from a cost vs. benefit standpoint.
