The emergence of new information sources indispensably affects the data centre market, and it has experienced structural changes in recent years. Indeed, information technology tends to go beyond processing data in traditional data centres and opt for cloud-centric ones. In just a few years, only 8 % of overall workloads will be handled by old-school data centres.
The IoT is predicted to generate 403 ZBs of data a year by 2018, up from 113.4 ZBs in 2013. But according to Cisco, not all generated data will be sent to data centres. In three years times, colo sites should be hosting 8.6 ZBs, up from 3.1 ZB in 2013. IDC has predicted that by 2020 one-tenth of the world’s data will be produced by machines. The organisation forecast that in five years time the number of connected devices communicating over the internet will reach 32 billion and generate 10 % of the world’s data. CBR compiles a list of the top 10 critical areas set to foster data growth resulting from IoT connected solutions.
Air travel: arming planes with smart sensors to prevent failures is already a reality. These sensors produce several terabytes of data per flight. For example, Cisco said that a Boeing 787 aircraft could generate 40 TBs per hour of flight. These IoT solutions in the air industry have several applications beyond preventing failure. They can also reduce fuel consumption, adjust speeds and reduce travel times.
Mining: for the mining industry, the main benefit of using the IoT is safety. By automating machines (M2M), humans are not required to stay close to the vehicles and risk their lives. Cisco predicts that mining operations can generate up to 2.4 TBs of data every minute.
Cars: a smart IoT connected vehicle is a fountain of data. It is continuously transmitting data to manufacturers, to road operators, to its driver, to the authorities, etc. Data generated by smart cars could crash mobile networks with data surges by 2024. The company said connected vehicles are expected to total 2.3 billion by then, which will increase data traffic up to 97 % during rush hour traffic at some cell points.
Utilities: the worldwide revenue opportunity presented by the IoT for the utility industry by 2018 is estimated to reach $201 billion. Smart meters are just an example. According to the UK Department of Energy & Climate Change, by the end of 2014, there were a total of 20.8 million gas meters and 25.3 million electricity meters operated by the larger energy suppliers in British domestic properties. Smart meters collect data on how much energy is being used every 30 minutes, 24/7, 365. It sends to the cloud several TBs of information every year.
Cities: smart cities will be made of everything out there. Street lamps talking to the grid, urban parks connecting to services and rivers, sending out alerts on pollution levels. All this data is generated on a daily basis, and it’s stored in the cloud. Millions of sensors, deployed in every city will continuously produce vast amounts of information.
Wearables: it is estimated that by 2019 more than 578 million wearables will be in use around the world. These solutions are continually collecting data on health, fitness and wellness. The amount of data produced by wearables varies according to the device being worn and the type of sensors it has included.
Sports: as sports adopt more wearables and smart clothing to improve performances, clubs are also looking at new ways to read the field and polish tactics using predictive analysis. For example, the NBA took on SAP to make its statistics accessible to fans, opening the clubs data to the world. SAP deployed its analytical software, primarily used in business environments, to create a database that records every single move players execute, players’ stats, and much more.
Logistics: until today, transportation of goods would be over once the supply chain shipped the products. But with the IoT, the service will be extended further beyond this, and smart goods will constantly produce more data. Some logistic companies are already collecting data from their suppliers, and also from their suppliers’ suppliers. Most of this data will be RFID, giving logistic companies the ability to analyse it in real time and tackle any future problems that might happen in the chain.
Healthcare: smart healthcare is already being adopted in several countries. Huge virtual platforms store patient data that can be accessed by health services anywhere else. The health sector will see tremendous benefits from the IoT, with sensors being deployed across all areas in a medical unit. Medical companies are using connectivity to prevent power surges in medical devices, including critical instruments used in surgeries. All this information is stored for future analysis.
Smart homes: smart homes are already a reality, and by 2020, consumers expect this ecosystem to be widely available. It is predicted that one smart connected home today can produce as much as 1
GB of information a week.