Google Cloud Storage is an online file storage

web service A web service (WS) is either: * a service offered by an electronic device to another electronic device, communicating with each other via the Internet, or * a server running on a computer device, listening for requests at a particular port over a n ...

for storing and accessing data on

Google Cloud Platform Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is a suite of cloud computing services offered by Google that provides a series of modular cloud services including computing, Computer data storage, data storage, Data analysis, data analytics, and machine learnin ...

infrastructure. The service combines the performance and scalability of Google's cloud with advanced security and sharing capabilities. It is an ''Infrastructure as a Service'' ( IaaS), comparable to

Amazon S3 Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) is a service offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that provides object storage through a web service interface. Amazon S3 uses the same scalable storage infrastructure that Amazon.com uses to run its e-commerc ...

. Contrary to

Google Drive Google Drive is a file-hosting service and synchronization service developed by Google. Launched on April 24, 2012, Google Drive allows users to store files in the cloud (on Google servers), synchronize files across devices, and share files ...

and according to different service specifications, Google Cloud Storage appears to be more suitable for enterprises.

Feasibility

User activation is resourced through the

API An application programming interface (API) is a connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how to build ...

Developer Console. Google Account holders must first access the service by logging in and then agreeing to the Terms of Service, followed by enabling a billing structure.

Design

Google Cloud Storage stores objects (originally limited to 100 GiB, currently up to 5 TiB) in projects which are organized into buckets. All requests are authorized using

Identity and Access Management Identity and access management (IAM or IdAM) or Identity management (IdM), is a framework of policies and technologies to ensure that the right users (that are part of the ecosystem connected to or within an enterprise) have the appropriate acce ...

policies or

access control lists In computer security, an access-control list (ACL) is a list of permissions associated with a system resource (object or facility). An ACL specifies which users or system processes are granted access to resources, as well as what operations are a ...

associated with a user or service account. Bucket names and keys are chosen so that objects are addressable using HTTP

URL A uniform resource locator (URL), colloquially known as an address on the Web, is a reference to a resource that specifies its location on a computer network and a mechanism for retrieving it. A URL is a specific type of Uniform Resource Identi ...

s: * https://storage.googleapis.com/''bucket''/''object'' * http://''bucket''.storage.googleapis.com/''object'' * https://storage.cloud.google.com/''bucket''/''object''

Features

Google Cloud Storage offers four storage classes, identical in throughput, latency and durability. The four classes, Multi-Regional Storage, Regional Storage, Nearline Storage, and Coldline Storage, differ in their pricing, minimum storage durations, and availability. * Interoperability - Google Cloud Storage is interoperable with other cloud storage tools and libraries that work with services such as

and Eucalyptus Systems. * Consistency - Upload operations to Google Cloud Storage are atomic, providing strong read-after-write consistency for all upload operations. * Access Control - Google Cloud Storage uses

access control list In computer security, an access-control list (ACL) is a list of permissions associated with a system resource (object or facility). An ACL specifies which users or system processes are granted access to resources, as well as what operations are ...

s (ACLs) to manage object and bucket access. An ACL consists of one or more entries, each granting a specific permission to a scope. Permissions define what someone can do with an object or bucket (for example, READ or WRITE). Scopes define who the permission applies to. For example, a specific user or a group of users (such as Google account email addresses, Google Apps domain, public access, etc.) * Resumable Uploads - Google Cloud Storage provides a resumable data transfer feature that allows users to resume upload operations after a communication failure has interrupted the flow of data.

Limitations of Service Level Agreement

Google Cloud Storage provides a durability guarantee of 99.999999999% (referred to as "11 nines"), primarily addressing data loss from hardware failures. However, this guarantee does not extend to losses resulting from human errors (such as accidental deletion), misconfigurations, third-party failures and subsequent data corruptions,

natural disasters A natural disaster is the very harmful impact on a society or community brought by natural phenomenon or Hazard#Natural hazard, hazard. Some examples of natural hazards include avalanches, droughts, earthquakes, floods, heat waves, landslides ...

force majeure In contract law, force majeure ( ; ) is a common clause in contracts which essentially frees both parties from liability or obligation when an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond the control of the parties, such as a war, strike, riot, ...

events, or security breaches. Customers are responsible for monitoring SLA compliance and must submit claims for any unmet SLAs within a designated timeframe. They should understand how deviations from SLAs are calculated, as these parameters may differ from those of other Google Cloud services. These requirements can impose a significant burden on customers. Additionally, SLA percentages and conditions can vary from those of other Google Cloud services. In cases of data loss due to hardware failure attributable to Google Cloud Platform, the company does not provide monetary compensation; instead, affected users may receive credits if they meet the eligibility criteria.

References

External links

*
Google Cloud Storage Discussion GroupIntro to new Google cloud technologies: Google Cloud Storage, Prediction API, BigQuery
slideshare presentation by Chris Schalk (Developer Advocate at Google) {{Cloud computing Cloud storage Web services Network file systems Cloud computing providers Cloud platforms