In the beginning, we used technology for dedicated purposes. Once it became readily available, we started using it for other purposes like entertainment. Then came the Internet, and the earlier advances just became mediums to access this newer more intriguing technology. Whether they access it from their desktop, tablet, smartphone or even smartwatch, the Internet never seems to be out of reach. But do you know how big the Internet really is? The exact size of the Internet is very difficult to determine, since it is a distributed body, and no complete index of it exists.
The Internet is a busy place. Every second, approximately 6,000 tweets are tweeted; more than 40,000 Google queries are searched and more than 2 million emails are sent, according to Internet Live Stats. According to the report the internet user database is about 3.2 billion people, which would be less than half of the world population. Let’s take a minute to think about the remaining population which has no internet connectivity. What would these stats be like if and when they begin using the internet?
But these statistics only hint at the size of the Web. As of September 2016, there were 1.08 billion websites on the Internet, a number that fluctuates by the minute as sites go defunct and others are born. For the beginning of 2016, the Counter expect around 7.7 Zettabyte on to data that is distributed worldwide Internet servers are. In the year 2020, the amount of data is expected to enlarge to 40 zettabytes. It is estimated that by then 50 billion devices will be connected to the Internet. And beneath this constantly changing Internet that’s familiar to most people lies the “Deep Web” – this is the hidden part of the Internet, which includes things Google and other search engines don’t index. These include, for example, the server log files, which each monitor access to the site. Likewise, the “cloud”. Although these are “the Internet”, but available only with login information. Deep Web content can be as innocuous as the results of a search of an online database or as secretive as black-market forums accessible only to those with special Tor browser.
Combine the constant change in the “surface” Web with the unquantifiability of the Deep Web, and it’s easy to see why estimating the size of the Internet is a difficult task. However, analysts say the Web is big and getting bigger. The Internet size is a moving target, Hilbert said, but it’s growing by leaps and bounds. Without fail the Internet continues to expand every day. As more and more people are given the opportunity to access the Internet it will only continue to grow, creating virtually limitless possibilities for individuals and businesses.
No comments:
Post a Comment