GCP Storage: Types, Key Features & Best Practises

‍Ever feel like your storage needs are growing faster than you can keep up? GCP storage has you covered with its scalable and secure options. Imagine a solution that not only adapts to your data demands but also simplifies your management process, allowing you to focus on what truly matters—your business growth.

From startups to multinational corporations, the ability to store, manage, and access data efficiently can make or break a business. Traditional storage solutions often fall short and are unable to keep pace with the dynamic needs of modern enterprises. Enter Google Cloud Platform (GCP) storage—a comprehensive suite designed to tackle these challenges head-on.

GCP storage offers a range of products tailored to different use cases, whether you need high-performance solutions for critical applications or cost-effective options for archiving vast datasets. 

In the following sections, we'll delve deeper into what GCP storage is, exploring its features, types, and real-world applications. This will help you understand how GCP storage can transform your data management strategy, driving efficiency and innovation in your organization.

What Is GCP Storage?

GCP offers a suite of storage services designed to provide scalable, secure, and durable storage solutions for data in the cloud. Initially, it was designed to manage unstructured data like videos, images, and logs. But now, GCP storage has enhanced its capabilities and supports a wide range of uses, including – disaster recovery, content delivery networks (CDNs), running web and mobile apps, and data archiving (long-term data storage).

With GCP, you're not just investing in storage; you're leveraging a powerful ecosystem that integrates seamlessly with other Google Cloud services, providing unmatched reliability, security, and scalability. This means you can scale your storage as your data grows without worrying about capacity constraints or performance issues.

But how does GCP storage work? GCP storage allows you to upload/download data using web consoles, software development kits (SDKs), and command-line tools. Once your data is uploaded, GCP automatically copies it across different regions and zones in Google Cloud. This helps ensure data remains secure and accessible, which is crucial for maintaining operational continuity.

Types Of GCP Storage

There are 3 GCP storage types, each catering to different data storage requirements.

Type 1: Google Cloud Persistent Disks (Block Storage)

Google Persistent Disk (block storage service) lets you create and attach disks to virtual machine instances running on Google Cloud. These disks remain available even if the virtual machine (to which they are attached) is turned off. This ensures that the data stored on these disks remains accessible for other instances or applications that may need to use it later. 

Here are some additional benefits of Persistent disks:

• You can store various data types on a Persistent Disk, such as application code, logs, and databases. 
• It's designed to deliver high performance, supporting simultaneous reading and writing of data. 
• Additionally, your data is stored in multiple copies across different locations so that in case of any event that could lead to data loss, you can easily recover the copies.

Note: You can create disks and attach them to virtual machines using the Google Cloud Console, command-line tools like gcloud, or through the Compute Engine API. Once attached, you can use the disk just like any other storage device.

Type 2: Google Cloud Filestore (Network File Storage)

Google Filestore (File storage solution) allows you to store and access file data on Google Cloud. It's ideal for scenarios where you need fast, low-latency file data access, such as home directories or shared file systems.

Here are some additional benefits of Filestore:

• It seamlessly integrates with other GCP services like Kubernetes Engine, Cloud Load Balancing, and Compute Engine to simplify scaling and management of file storage.
• It is compatible with apps that use typical files and directories. So, if your applications run on Windows or Linux, they likely depend on file storage, and Filestore will support them without any issues.

Type 3: Google Cloud Storage (Object Storage)

Cloud Storage is a flexible object storage service offered by Google Cloud Platform. It is designed to store and manage unstructured data. You can store any amount of data and access it whenever you want. It ensures high durability by keeping multiple copies of your data across different availability zones, and it encrypts your data in-flight and at rest to keep it secure and private.

Here are some additional benefits of Cloud storage:

• Cloud storage can also be used to host websites, store data for analysis and machine learning, or backup data for disaster recovery.
• You can store data in Cloud Storage using the web application or the Cloud Storage API. Now that your data is in Cloud Storage, you can access it from anywhere with an internet connection. 

Note: Google Cloud storage service allows users to set permissions to control who can access their data.

Now that you are familiar with GCP storage, how it works, and its types, let's explore its features as well. 

Key Features Of GCP Storage

The following are the key capabilities offered by GCP storage:

1. Optimizes Storage Through Object Lifecycle Management

GCP's object lifecycle management feature allows users to set rules to automatically move their object (unstructured data) between different types of storage based on specific conditions. For example, you can set a rule to move data that is older or accessed less frequently to a cheaper storage option. This helps you save money by ensuring that you are only using expensive storage when necessary and more affordable storage when the data doesn't need to be accessed as often.

2. Ensures the Accuracy Of Data By Providing a View Of the Latest Version 

GCP storage ensures that once the data is saved (after making any changes to data) in Google Cloud, you will always get access to the most up-to-date version any time you access it afterward. This feature is called read-after-write consistency. It eliminates the risk of accessing outdated data, ensuring data accuracy and reliability.

3. Saves Multiple Copies Of Data To Secure From Accidental Loss

GCP storage offers a versioning feature that allows users to store multiple versions of their data. So, if you accidentally modify or delete a file, you can easily retrieve and restore previous versions. This feature helps ensure your data is secure from accidental loss (overwrite or deletion) by maintaining historical copies that you can restore if needed.

4. Ensures Safety Of Data Through Encryption, IAM, & Bucket-Level Access Control Feature

GCP storage uses the following security features to protect data from potential breaches or attacks:

• Encrypts Data At Rest & In Transit: Google Cloud storage automatically encrypts your data when it's stored in its servers. This means your files are encoded using advanced methods to prevent unauthorized access, even if someone gains physical access to the storage hardware.
  Similarly, when you move your data to or from GCS, it's secured with encryption. This protection ensures that data traveling over the Internet or between Google's data centers remains safe from breaches.
• Identity and Access Management (IAM): IAM controls who can access your resources in GCS and what actions they can perform. It helps you manage permissions securely, ensuring that only authorized users and applications can view or modify your data.
• Bucket-level Access Controls: GCS allows you to set specific access permissions at the bucket level. This means you can define who has access to which buckets of data within your storage environment, adding an extra layer of security.
• Maintains Cloud Audit Logs: It maintains detailed logs of activities (data access events). This includes keeping track of actions taken by admins and recording who accessed or modified data stored in cloud storage. These data access logs are crucial for monitoring and compliance auditing.

5. Offers Shared File System For Easy Access

GCP storage also offers a fully managed Network File System for storing and sharing files. These file shares can be accessed from multiple virtual machines or Kubernetes Engine clusters, allowing to read, write, and modify the shared files simultaneously. This feature makes it ideal for apps that need shared access, like media processing workflows and content management systems.

After going through the key features, you may wonder if other cloud storage services offer the same capabilities. To clarify your doubts, here is a brief comparison of GCP storage with the leading players in the cloud storage market: AWS and Azure Blob Storage.

Comparison With Other Cloud Storage Solutions

Below, we have compared GCP storage with AWS and Azure Blob Storage. This comparative analysis will help you determine whether GCP storage is a better storage solution for your organization.

• Amazon Web Services vs GCP Storage

AWS is recognized for its high reliability and extensive ecosystem of tools and services. It offers various storage classes to suit different needs, ranging from data that is accessed frequently to data that needs long-term archiving. 

But how does it differ from GCP storage? S3 uses a region-based naming system for its storage buckets. This means that bucket names are only unique within a specific region, not globally. Whereas, GCP storage ensures bucket names must be globally unique, simplifying global data access but requiring more consideration when naming buckets to avoid confusion.

• Microsoft Azure Blob Storage vs GCP Storage

Azure Blob provides a range of features, such as tiered storage choices (Hot, Cool, and Archive). It is also known for its smooth integration with other Azure services and Microsoft's enterprise tools and software solutions. 

But how does it differ for GCP? Although GCP storage doesn't have the same scale of data centers as Azure, but it excels in supporting container and Kubernetes applications and is easier to learn for various types of deployments. Google Cloud also competes well on pricing, offering more flexible pricing for cloud services compared to Azure cloud storage.

But that's not all. Users often prefer GCP over AWS and Azure Blob due to its advanced security capabilities and integration with Google's other security products, such as Google Cloud Armor and Google Identity-Aware Proxy. GCP also provides tools and services to help businesses comply with strict data security regulations such as GDPR and CCPA.

That’s because security concerns often top the list of reasons why businesses hesitate to adopt cloud services. Many are concerned with security risks, regulatory compliance, and the need for specialized development skills. GCP addresses these concerns by offering robust security guarantees and effective data protection measures.

Note: To learn more about the differences between these renowned cloud storage services, check out this comparison blog.  

Now, let's go through the GCP storage use cases so that you get a better understanding of where you can use it.

GCP Storage Use Cases

Listed below are some use cases of GCP storage. These insights will help you determine whether it is ideal or closely aligns with your needs or not. 

• Perfect For Backups & Archives

Google storage services, such as backups and archives, are ideal for storing data that you don't need to access frequently. These services can help you save money because they offer low-cost storage options for data that is accessed less than once a month. Despite the lower cost, you still get the benefit of immediate access whenever you need it.

On top of it, all storage classes in GCP provide millisecond latency. This means that even if your data is stored in a less frequently accessed storage class, you can still retrieve it quickly. Furthermore, you can manage all your data through a single API, making it convenient to use for various purposes beyond just data recovery. 

• Offers Integrated Repository For Analytics & Machine Learning 

GCP storage is suitable for tasks that require a lot of data processing and analysis, such as computing, analytics, and machine learning (ML) within a specific region. This is because GCS offers the highest level of availability and performance in a single region, ensuring that your data is always accessible and processed quickly. 

Additionally, it provides strong consistency, meaning that once any changes to data are made, the most recent version will be provided. This reliability is crucial for analytics and ML tasks, ensuring that your data is accurate and up-to-date.

• Streamlines Media Content Storage & Delivery

GCP can be a great help for storing and delivering media content like audio and video. It stores your data in multiple locations around the world. This ensures high availability and performance, making it perfect for delivering content quickly to users, no matter where they are. With low latency and the ability to handle a high number of queries/requests per second (high QPS), GCS can stream media directly to apps or websites, providing a smooth and reliable experience for users.

After learning all about GCP storage, you may be willing to implement it in your organization. But in order to benefit from it, you need to use it properly. Wondering how to ensure that. Consider following these GCP cloud storage best practices.

Best Practices For Using GCP Storage

Here are the 4 best practices for using GCP storage:

1. Opt For The Right GCP Storage Class

GCP Storage offers different types of storage classes designed for various use cases. These classes are:

• Standard Storage: Best for data accessed frequently.
• Nearline Storage: Ideal for data accessed less than once a month.
• Coldline Storage: Designed for archival data accessed less than once a year.
• Archive Storage: Intended for data that is rarely (even less frequently than Coldline) accessed and stored for longer periods (long-term archival storage).

But how to choose the right class of storage? 

You need to evaluate how often you'll need to access that data. This assessment helps you choose the storage class that aligns with your usage patterns. 

For instance, if your data needs frequent access, the 'Standard' storage class would be suitable. On the other hand, if access is less frequent, options like 'Nearline' or 'Coldline' might be more cost-effective. 

By matching your data's access needs with the appropriate storage class, you can effectively manage costs while ensuring your data remains readily available when required.

2. Monitor & Optimize Persistent Disks

GCP persistent disks take up a large portion of your total cloud bill. So, monitoring and optimizing them before they take away a big chunk of your budget is necessary. But how will persistent disks (aka block storage solution) affect cloud bills?

When you start a virtual machine in Google Cloud, a disk is attached to store your application's data. Even if you stop using the virtual machine, the disk might still be running and incurring charges. Even if you're not using these disks, Google Cloud will keep charging you the full price, which can quickly add up and become expensive.

Therefore, removing any disks that are no longer attached to a virtual machine is a good practice for saving money on your cloud bill.

Now, how to optimize persistent disk? Well, you can opt for Lucidity. But why? How is it going to benefit? 

Lucidity offers a storage audit solution designed to discover the root cause of wastage, such as idle volumes, and detect your current disk spending. How does it work? Lucidity storage audit uses a simple, ready-to-use executable tool that helps you understand your disk health and utilization. 

3. Delete Stored Objects (data) Once They Met The Minimum Retention Period

The best way to optimize your storage is by deleting data that is no longer required or has reached its retention term. But how do you identify this data? You can use GCP's storage object lifecycle features that automatically detect when objects have met their legal retention requirements and then delete them. This feature ultimately helps eliminate unnecessary storage costs by deleting data that is no longer needed.

However, there's a risk of deleting data before its retention period ends. So how to prevent that? To avoid this and ensure compliance with regulations like FINRA and SEC, you can use GCP's bucket lock feature. This feature prevents objects from being deleted before the end of their retention period, reducing the risk of accidental deletion and ensuring you meet regulatory requirements.

4. Leverage Cloud Billing Report to Understand the Storage Spend 

Google Cloud Billing Reports give you a detailed view of how much money you've spent on GCP storage options. The reports include a dashboard showing usage statistics and a graph that specifically shows how much you've spent on storage across all your projects. 

You can customize these reports by selecting different timeframes, filtering by specific services or regions, and organizing the results by project or SKU (Stock Keeping Unit, which identifies unique items). How are these reports helpful?

These reports are helpful because they allow you to:

• Understand how much you've spent in the current month on Google Cloud services.
• See which Google Cloud services are the most expensive overall.
• Estimate future costs based on your past spending trends.
• Break down your spending by different regions.

In short, these resorts will help you monitor and manage your Google cloud storage expenses effectively.

Meet Your Storage Requirements With GCP Storage 

In conclusion, choosing GCP storage can be great for your storage needs because it offers secure, scalable, and cost-effective solutions. With different storage options designed according to how often you access your data, strong integration with other Google services, and advanced security features, GCP Storage ensures your data is safe and accessible. It also helps you save on cloud bills by efficiently managing storage costs and complying with regulations. By using GCP Storage, you can effectively handle your data needs while maximizing performance and minimizing expenses.