Big data refers to the complex information, huge enough not to be processed or managed by the management tools and software used in traditional means. It may represent the vast untapped volumes of the information that are not recognized by the existing warehouse systems and analytical applications. Examples of big data would be the information on social networking by sites such as Twitter and Facebook, or the high volume sensor data. Managing the processing of such big data requires complex techniques and technologies (Chen 315). In a bid to control the global content that users and sites create, new technologies that can process big data have been designed. These can be divided into three categories: new data management systems to handle social media and sensor data; advanced or big analytics which have higher analytical capabilities; and, lastly hardware that ranges from large memory spaces to faster multi-core processors to handle both cold and hot data(Chen 330).
Depending on the data volume, data variety, and the processing analytics involved, the choice of the management technologies is made; whether non-relational systems, relational DBMSs or analytic RDBMS as neither of them are mutually exclusive. However, effective data management requires an integrated analytical infrastructure, and therefore, all these technologies must interoperate and coexist. There must be a system that allows for data to be incorporated into the different systems. ("What Is Big Data And Why Do We Need It?").
Personally, I have experienced the use of big data technologies in the health sector. Usually, a lot of records are kept as the interactions between patients, and their physicians require privacy. Big data processing and management ensure that the patient and the physician are the only people who can access their records. Additionally, the doctor was able to monitor my progress without physically being present, by the use of a smartwatch I had on my wrist. I was also able to access my prescription details from the hospital database.
Works Cited
Chen, CL Philip, and Chun-Yang Zhang. "Data-intensive applications, challenges, techniques and technologies: A survey on Big Data." Information Sciences 275 (2014): 314-347.
"What Is Big Data And Why Do We Need It?". Inside Analysis, 2018, https://insideanalysis.com/2011/08/big-data-2/. Accessed 19 May 2018
