Internet Soon to Contain 500 BILLION GB of Data
Posted 05/19/09 at 02:45:41 PM by Paul Lilly
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We often preach the importance of maintaining a good backup scheme, but when it comes to the internet, such a task would now be incredibly overwhelming. Just how much data are we talking about? According to the guardian.co.uk, enough to fill a stack of books stretching from Earth to Pluto 10 times over. Put into a different perspective, it would take one top-end iPod for every two people on the planet to back up the entire internet.
In more concrete terms, the amount of data online now sits at 487 billion gigabytes. And get this - that number is expected to double in size in the next 18 months, according to technology consultancy IDC. Compare that to in 2007, when the IDC estimated the world's digital content to be at 161 billion gigabytes.
The rapid rise in data can be largely be attributed to digital cameras, cell phones, and the social networking phenomenon.
"Devices such as camera phones, and the web 2.0 services like social networking sites have created a nation of digital hoarders," said Mike Altendorf, managing director of EMC consulting, the firm who sponsored the research.
Image Credit: miltonalexander.com
How did they come up with
Submitted by ferds7 on Tue, 05/19/2009 - 7:29pm
How did they come up with this number? Maybe I'm blind but I didn't see an answer to that question.
Submitted by chronium on Tue, 05/19/2009 - 2:39pm
I think you guys are looking at it the wrong way the internet is the back up of the majority of the data because I do not know anyone who deletes the original copy of the files they post online.
Is that like half a peta
Submitted by ZayLay on Tue, 05/19/2009 - 12:58pm
Is that like half a peta byte? what is past terabyte?
Submitted by b_c_pc on Tue, 05/19/2009 - 2:05pm
...tera, peta, exa, zetta, yotta (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giga)
Submitted by thegamepro on Tue, 05/19/2009 - 12:30pm
500 billion GB's? That's 500 Exabytes!
Submitted by b_c_pc on Tue, 05/19/2009 - 12:27pm
500 exabytes a.k.a. .5 zettabytes
Submitted by QuadCoreAbe on Tue, 05/19/2009 - 12:10pm
....pr0n.....
Submitted by habuza on Tue, 05/19/2009 - 12:10pm
shit compared to the amount of money the government owes. I say government because *WE* the people are no longer in control, and haven't been for a while. So if the government wants to run itself into the ground, I say let it.
500 billion gigabytes.. hrmm... that equates to what... a holyshitwtfbbqbyte?
Submitted by QuadCoreAbe on Tue, 05/19/2009 - 12:13pm
I say you probably can pile up a 100 times the length from here to pluto with pennies from the national debt.
Thanks to Comcast and Warner
Submitted by dag1992 on Tue, 05/19/2009 - 11:55am
Thanks to Comcast and Warner we can't access much of that, so what's the point?
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