As the number of internet-connected devices increases and the size/quality of web content goes up to match demand, Cisco Systems (a worldwide leader in networking) estimates that global internet traffic will quadruple by 2015. Their projected figure for total yearly traffic in 2015: 966 exabytes, or close to 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes. That’s 1 zettabyte if those 21 zeros make you feel nauseous.
The projected increase of Internet traffic between 2014 and 2015 alone is 200 exabytes, which is greater than the total amount of Internet Protocol traffic generated globally in 2010. On the verge of reaching 1 zettabyte, which is equal to a sextillion bytes, or a trillion gigabytes by 2015, global IP traffic growth is driven by four primary factors, according to Cisco.
Jaw, meet floor. Floor, meet jaw.
Don’t get me wrong, I expected the number to be huge, but nobody prepared me for this kind of huge. A trillion gigabytes. Holy batman riding a blind donkey on a miniature Eiffel Tower in Berlin!
