How big is your data?

I will not take credit for the here, it is something I ran across, but struck me as so very appropriate for the topic I have been beating the drum about since my post about zetabyte storage needs.  It is with those “extreme” storage needs that you need to build and design today’s systems with.  I call then “extreme”, as in reality, as things are progressing, in a short time we will all be reminiscing about the days when 347 blog posts per minute was such a small number. (picked on that since I am adding to that pile)

Clearly, not everyone will be capturing all of these data points, however, as you look at your own unique storage needs build for the future…. a BIG DATA future… keep in mind that your data will be growing at a very fast pace!  It takes a special attention to scaling, IO needs, and an understanding of your analytical requirements to be able to handle data volumes of this size… or… you will be left with the difficult decisions about what data is “not important” and will be simply left behind.  That is not to say, that simply because a byte of data is produced it must be stored forever, but you do need to be in a position to make analytical use (at least short term) of all your data.  Be ready, more data is coming your way!