Understanding Big Data: The 3 V's



Big data is becoming a commonly thrown about term in modern day-to-day life. But how can we categorize what is big data, and what is not? As previously discussed, big data is all data that is beyond the processing capabilities of traditional methods. But due to the complex nature of big data, it is further divided into multiple sub domains. These sub domains or properties are commonly known as the "3 V's of big data" and help to identify the variation of big data from traditional data. The 3 V's are Volume, Velocity and Variety.

Volume

Volume is usually the first thing that people commonly think of when they consider big data. Volume refers to the amount of data that is collected and/or processed through websites, portals and online applications. For example, Facebook currently stores more than 250 billion images from its users and as far back as 2016, Facebook had 2.5 trillion posts. This is a prime example of the quantities of data that reach incomprehensible proportions. (ZDNet, 2018). As a result, it is estimated that 40 Zettabytes of data will be created by 2020 from multiple companies which leads to Petabytes of data in storage devices being used by companies which gives an idea of the ever-increasing amount of data generated.

Velocity

Velocity in simple terms, measures how fast the data is coming in. Some data will come in in real-time, whereas others will come in batches. Not all platforms experience the incoming data at the same pace. For example, considering the previous Facebook example whereas 250 million images are stored, this data has to be ingested, processed and filed along with later having the ability to retrieve it. The speed of the data coming in has increased, but also companies ability to analyse the data at speeds has also increased. This data flow allows for useful real-time information but also increases the likelihood of
cyberattacks that can be hidden in the flow of data. Caution is needed in this data flow, but this is becoming increasingly trickier for risk of getting left behind by other quicker processing and analysis systems. (ZDnet, 2018)


Variety

Variety constitutes how the information is presented and the diversity of the data. The format of how data is collected and delivered is ever changing. The variety of data is extremely useful, but in turn creates more work and unfortunately requires more analytical skill to decipher the data. Data is now created using text, images, social media etc. This allows for a broader and more insightful view of big data but can take an ever-increasing time to analyse and process the data. (BigDataLdn, 2017)

In conclusion the 3Vs of Big Data are concepts that help providing new opportunities to utilise and process data in order to generate business opportunities and solutions.




References:
Gewirtz, D. (2020). Volume, velocity, and variety: Understanding the three V's of big data | ZDNet. [online] ZDNet. Available at: https://www.zdnet.com/article/volume-velocity-and-variety-understanding-the-three-vs-of-big-data/


Big Data LDN. (2020). Big Data: The 3 Vs explained | BIG DATA LDN. [online] Available at: https://bigdataldn.com/intelligence/big-data-the-3-vs-explained/





Comments

  1. MaëlFebruary 24, 2020 at 8:12 AM


    Interesting article, very practical to understand how to analyse big data

    ReplyDelete
  2. Colin AlmeidaFebruary 24, 2020 at 12:23 PM

    Thank You. I have a better understanding of 3Vs now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dylan O'ReganFebruary 25, 2020 at 4:02 PM

      Thank you Colin and very grateful for your comment Colin

      Delete
  3. MelissaFebruary 24, 2020 at 4:04 PM

    Clear and well written article. Thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete
  4. SAURAV CHOUDHURYFebruary 25, 2020 at 5:48 AM

    Great insight 👍

    ReplyDelete
  5. Marília Martins February 25, 2020 at 8:24 AM

    Very good explanation, direct to the point. Thanks for writing and sharing this post.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Akshay KanojiaFebruary 25, 2020 at 10:01 AM

    Very well written, Dylan. Keep up!

    ReplyDelete
  7. ChrisChvॐFebruary 25, 2020 at 3:04 PM

    Great that you put some hard facts in there, makes it easier to understand.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Mariel MontenegroFebruary 25, 2020 at 3:07 PM

    nice!! loved it

    ReplyDelete

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