Top 10 Data Predictions leading to zero-latency future in 2019
Just like electricity, we will soon start to see real-time computing become pervasively available and invisible at the same time, writes Madhukar Kumar, Head of Developer Advocacy at Redis Labs
The tech industry regularly sees the rise and fall of several hype cycles including the advent of the dot com era to cloud computing, big data and more recently artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain.
Looking back, it’s clear that each one of these major changes was additive or in some way related to the disruption that happened before. For example, AI would not be where it is today without big data. Big data would not have been possible without the advent of cloud computing and cloud itself would be non-existent without the world wide web boom in the 90s.
Armed with this hindsight, I believe we are about to make technology’s next major leap due to several forces (i.e. disruptions that have already happened or are currently in play) coming together. In a nutshell, I believe we are headed into a zero-latency future.
Now before you raise an eyebrow, let’s define what that means and then look at all the individual trends I believe will together make this phenomenon a reality.
If a machine (hardware plus software) starts interacting with humans or other machines in less than a second, it is a zero-latency device or app.
When you talk to Alexa or Google Home today, the devices often respond in less than a second, but I think it could be even faster. Think about autonomous vehicles, facial recognition, smart homes etc., where everything needs to come together to make a decision and act based on hundreds of inputs in a few milliseconds.
Now imagine that kind of computing is everywhere around you. That, in my mind, is a zero-latency future. In this future, any response time over one second will be unacceptable.
So, what are the trends shaping this future? Let’s first look at these emerging megatrends.
Earlier this year, Intel announced a major milestone in building quantum computing systems with 49 qubits — enough to supersede practical limits to modern computers. IBM and Google also made similar announcements.
Although we probably won’t see an immediate replacement of classic computers in the next year, IBM has already opened up a playground where people can start experimenting with this new technology. These developments are going to fast-track opportunities for exponentially faster compute processing power.
Some providers, like Verizon, have already deployed 5G to a few cities in the United States. However, the first 5G networks are expected to go live in Britain in 2019.
5G technology builds upon lessons learned from 4G and delivers speeds of 1GB uploads and downloads per second. That’s right, you will be able to download – not merely stream – a full HD movie in less than 10 seconds on your way to work using a 5G network.
Intel recently announced the launch of Optane DC persistent memory, which looks like any standard RAM but can store terabytes and even persist data when power is switched off.
I am hopeful this technology will continue to improve and eventually replace hard drives for most use cases. With this increased capacity, vast amounts of data can be processed in real time and persisted without ever touching a disk.
