Big data analytics

The volume and variety of data being generated using computers is doubling every two years. It is estimated that in 2015, 8 Zettabytes (Zetta=10 21 ) 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.