Google Cloud Storage
Cloud storage is a model for storing data on computers available on the network, where the data is stored on multiple servers, real and/or virtual, generally hosted at third-party facilities or on dedicated servers. Through this model, it is possible to access personal or business information, whether it be videos, music, photographs, databases, or files, without knowing the physical location of the data, from any part of the world with any suitable device. The advantages of this methodology are numerous: infinite capacity of memory space, payment only of the actual amount of memory used, files accessible from anywhere in the world, highly reduced maintenance, and greater security, as the files are protected from theft, fire, or damage that may occur on local computers.
Google Cloud Storage is the Google proposal for Cloud storage: it's a developer service provided by Google that allows you to save and manipulate data directly on Google's infrastructure. In more detail, Google Cloud Storage provides a programming interface that makes use of simple HTTP requests to perform operations on its infrastructure. With Google Cloud Storage you can perform the following operations: uploading a file, downloading a file, deleting a file, obtaining a list of files, or obtaining the size of a given file. Each of these HTTP requests contains information about the method used and the resource to request. It follows that it becomes possible to create an application that, using these HTTP requests, provides a service in which applications save data remotely, generally via third-party servers.
The Google Storage platform is an enterprise storage solution that offers three levels of storage with different accessibility needs and associated pricing:
- Standard storage is for fast access to large amounts of data. At $0.026/GB, it offers a high speed of response to requests.
- Durable Reduced Availability (DRA) is for long-term data storage and infrequent access. It is priced lower, at $0.02/GB.
- Finally, nearline storage is for even-less-frequent access. It is the cheapest version of the service, with much longer response time. It is the cheapest option, currently priced at $0.01/ GB.