Cloud computing traffic to grow 12 fold by 2015: Cisco

Cisco has estimated in its global cloud index (2010-2015), that the global cloud computing traffic will grow 12 times from the existing 130 exabytes, to reach a total of 1.6 zettabytes by the year 2015, with a 66 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR). One zettabyte is equal to a sextillion bytes or a trillion gigabytes.

Cloud is the fastest growing component of data center traffic, which itself will grow 4-fold at a 33 percent CAGR to reach 4.8 zettabytes annually by 2015. Cloud is also estimated today to be 11 percent of data center traffic, growing to more than 33 percent of the total by 2015, said the company.

The company's global cloud index (2010 — 2015) was developed to estimate global data center and cloud-based Internet Protocol traffic growth and trends. The study provides insights and visibility into the growing trends affecting data center and cloud architectures.

According to the company, the index is generated from a modeling and analysis of various primary and secondary sources, including more than 30 terabytes of data generated each month over the past year from a variety of data centers around the globe, measurements of more than 45 million broadband-speed tests and third-party market forecasts.

"Cloud and data center traffic is exploding, driven by user demand to access volumes of content on the devices of their choice.The Cisco Global Cloud Index provides insight into this traffic growth and trends so that organizations can make strategic long-term decisions. We will continue to develop and release the Cisco Global Cloud Index on a regular and ongoing annual basis, contributing to 'cloud readiness' efforts worldwide," said Suraj Shetty, VP, product and solutions marketing, Cisco on the predictions.

The company even forecasts that data center traffic will grow four times from 1.1 zettabytes in the year 2010, to 4.8 zettabytes annually in the year 2015.

All regions included in the study -Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and North America are currently ready for basic cloud-computing applications, such as social networking and Web conferencing, said the company.