What Is Google Cloud?
Google Cloud is a cloud computing platform. Also known as GCP or Google Cloud Platform, it offers services to build apps and store data.
Launched in 2008 as Google App Engine, GCP is today the third-largest cloud provider, behind AWS and Azure. It offers a range of convenient and easy-to-use services for your business needs.
GCP services run on the same infrastructure as other Google end-user products, like Gmail, Google Search, and YouTube. What’s more, you can access these services for free or on a pay-per-use basis.
Next, let’s run through the top Google Cloud services, from computing to networking.
4 Major Google Cloud Services.
Google Cloud offers a myriad of services. In this article, we will focus on the four major ones. These are computing and hosting services, storage and database, networking, and big data.
1. Computing and Hosting Services
As the name suggests, this service allows you to compute and host your apps in the cloud. It offers a scalable range of computing options to match your business needs.
- App Engine: This lets you develop and host web applications on Google’s infrastructure. It offers inbuilt security, scalability, and mobile backends so you can focus on coding rather than infrastructure needs.
- Compute Engine: This is an unmanaged compute service that provides virtual machines (VMs). It allows you to use Google’s powerful VMs instead of buying and managing physical hardware.
- Kubernetes Engine: This is an easy-to-use service for running containerized apps. It helps automate, manage, and scale your applications.
- Cloud Run: This is a fully managed service handled by GCP personnel. You can use it to build containerized apps without virtual machines.
2. Storage and Database Services
With GCP’s storage and database services, you can store media files, backups, and other data in the cloud. It offers out-of-the-box features that simplify storing, configuring, managing, and administering your data.
- Cloud Storage: This is an online file storage service for storing and accessing data in the cloud. It comes with state-of-the-art security and sharing capabilities.
- Cloud SQL: This allows you to maintain, manage, and administer your databases in the cloud. It offers features like automatic replication, built-in security, and managed backups.
- Cloud Bigtable: This is a fast and highly scalable service. It can allow you to store terabytes or even petabytes of data and is used by Gmail and Google Maps.
3. Networking Services
GCP’s networking services can help manage and scale your network. It connects your resources and services with one another for a seamless experience.
- Virtual Private Cloud (VPC): This creates a private and secure network for your deployments. Use it to control how workloads connect with each other regionally as well as globally.
- Cloud Load Balancing: This distributes workloads across various computing resources. The goal here is to cut costs and increase the availability of resources.
- Content Delivery Network (CDN): CDN is a network of servers and their data centers. These are responsible for delivering content based on location.
4. Big Data Services
Big data refers to a massive amount of complex data. It’s difficult to manage or analyze, and that’s when GCP comes into the picture. It offers services to store and process big data.
- BigQuery: This is a serverless, cost-effective tool to store and analyze massive amounts of data. You can use it in interactive queuing and offline analytics.
- Cloud Dataflow: This is a fully managed, highly scalable service. It’s used for developing and executing various data processing patterns, including batch processing and streaming.
- Cloud Dataproc: This is a fast, easy, and cost-effective tool to process and analyze large datasets. You can use it for querying, streaming, and machine learning.
The Final Word
Google Cloud offers a platform to develop, deploy, and operate apps on the web. This is ideal for small and large businesses looking for a safe, cost-effective, and flexible cloud solution.
GCP services allow you to accelerate app development without any hardware limitations. They also offer greater scalability and reliability. Plus, you can expect a safe and secure network, anywhere in the world.
These services also translate into other benefits for businesses, like increased productivity, better connectivity, and faster growth.
Google Cloud Computing – Additional Resources
- Google Cloud Products – Browse over 100 products.
- Google Cloud Pricing – Save money with Google Cloud’s transparent and innovative approach to pricing.
- Google Cloud Storage – Object storage for companies of all sizes
