Data proliferation refers to the large amount of data stored by entities such as governments and businesses, which requires more space and hardware. The problem is that the proliferation of data is moving faster than computer advances since 2011, causing difficulties and additional costs. This affects large entities more than average computer users, who can just get a bigger hard drive. The cost of additional storage hardware, physical storage, and human resources can become too much for an entity to bear, resulting in reduced profits. Data congestion can also cause programs to move slower, affecting employee productivity.
“Data proliferation” is an umbrella term that refers to the large number of files and amount of data stored by entities such as governments and businesses. The sheer amount of data arriving every day means these entities need more space and hardware, but the proliferation of data is moving faster than the advances in computers since 2011. It doesn’t matter what type of information is stored, whether they are structured or unstructured; all that matters is that the computer’s memory is occupied. Storing all of this data can be difficult and incurs additional costs. Another problem with data proliferation is that the network on which the data is stored and all associated programs tend to slow down.
The problem of data proliferation is not one that easily worries consumers and average computer users. While average computer users have required more memory over time, computers have been able to advance at a speed to meet these needs. When it comes to businesses, governments, and other entities that collect massive data on a daily basis, however, the problem of data proliferation can manifest itself.
If an average computer user needs more computer memory, they typically just get a bigger hard drive. When a large entity needs more memory, it usually needs to have multiple servers. At a normal rate, this shouldn’t present any problems, but many large entities in 2011 are storing increasing amounts of data at speeds beyond technology, and massive numbers of servers may be required to hold everything the entity needs to store . This is because computer technology is not yet capable of making a device capable of holding all the information, which means that a large entity must continue to purchase and use more and more hardware.
Some terms or data issues concern only one type of information. When it comes to data proliferation, however, it doesn’t matter what kind of data is involved. As long as computer memory is being used up at a rapid rate, data proliferation becomes a problem.
One of the many problems with data proliferation is cost. In addition to the cost of additional storage hardware, there are also the costs of physical storage and human resources. Servers have to be located somewhere and people have to be employed to run the servers, resulting in costs that could theoretically become too much for an entity to bear and lead to greatly reduced profits. Another issue is network speed, because data congestion can cause programs to move much slower, meaning employees can work less during a workday.
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