Introduction to GPUs for Data Analytics

Chapter 5. The Internet of Things and Real-Time Data Analytics

Live data can have enormous value, but only if it can be processed as it streams in. Without the processing power required to ingest and analyze these streams in real time, however, organizations risk missing out on the opportunities in two ways: the applications will be limited to a relatively low volume and velocity of data, and the results will come too late to have real value.

This need for speed is particularly true for the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT offers tremendous opportunities to derive actionable insights from connected devices, both stationary and mobile, and to make these devices operate more intelligently and, therefore, more effectively.

Even before the advent of the IoT, the need to analyze live data in real time, often coupled with data at rest, had become almost universal. Although some organizations have industry-specific sources of streaming data, nearly every organization has a data network, a website, inbound and outbound phone calls, heating and lighting controls, machine logs, a building security system, and other infrastructure—all of which continuously generates data that holds potential—and perishable—value.

Today, with the IoT, or as some pundits call it, the Internet of Everything, the number of devices streaming data is destined to proliferate to 30 billion or more by 2020, according to various estimates.

Only the GPU database has the processing power and other capabilities needed ...