Storage, like computing and networks, is an essential resource in today’s technological systems. Storage components are essential to ensure that your data is safe, regardless of whether your systems are located on-premises or in the cloud. If you are familiar with the world of data centers such as Google Cloud Storage, which has SAN, NAS and local hard drives, but are new to public cloud storage, the concept of cloud-based storage may seem confusing.
This article will explain how Google Cloud Storage is secure, durable, and scaleable object storage. Let’s get started!
About Google Cloud Storage
Google Cloud Storage is the right solution for you if you are looking for a secure and intelligent unified cloud storage solution. GCP saves your objects (often called data files) on the Google Cloud architecture. These files are stored in buckets that function similar to virtual filing folders. They can be assigned to specific projects within your business. You can classify your data into the following storage categories: Standard (currently in use), Nearline, (accessed rarely), Coldline (accessed infrequently/archived), and Archive (accessed less frequently than once a calendar year).
Your data outflow and capacity consumption determine your Google Cloud Storage fees. You can scale up or decrease your storage service depending on your needs.
Google Cloud Storage Overview
Google Cloud is an online file storage service that uses the Google Cloud Platform infrastructure. It stores and retrieves your files. It offers a global uniform, scalable and extremely long-lasting object storage. Google Cloud is a service that is primarily for developers and companies. It offers many storage classes, so you can choose the best price plan for your data. These tiers include Archive, Nearline and Coldline. They differ based on how often you need to retrieve your data and the speed and durability of the storage that you require.
Other key characteristics include the ability for storage types to be grouped together in a way that optimizes pricing and performance through the integrated Object Lifecycle Management. If you meet the criteria, you can transfer to lower-cost classes. With Google’s growing number of global servers, there are other automated redundancy options. This allows organizations to optimize for quick response times and create a comprehensive disaster recovery plan.
Image source: Google. To determine if Google Cloud is right to you, think about the activities and processes that your company will be carrying out with its data. This is because Google Workspace, Google’s business apps package, offers cloud storage at $6 per user per year for unlimited activities. It may be a more affordable cloud storage option.
Key Features
To help you understand the service better, here are some other key aspects of Google Cloud Storage.
Management of Objects Throughout Their Life Cycle
This feature allows you create and add conditions to a bucket to prevent data loss or allow you to move to a cheaper storage class. These terms apply to all objects in the bucket, both current and future. Cloud Storage will perform the action you choose if the item meets the requirements of any or all the conditions.
Versioning of objects
Do you want to keep a record of all the things you have saved and be able to access them even if they get lost or overwritten? Object versioning makes this possible. This Cloud Storage function can be enabled in a bucket to secure your files. Although it can increase storage costs, you can eliminate obsolete versions of your items with Object Lifecycle Management.
Object Holds Retention Policy and Bucket Lock
These three features are useful if you have items that you cannot get rid of. You can set up Retention Policies to control how long items (both current and future) will be kept in a bucket. If you enable the Object Hold option in your policy, the file can’t be overwritten or destroyed before it reaches the age specified in the retention policy.
Bucket locks are a stronger option. Once you have established a locked retention policy, it is impossible to change or shorten the term. It’s unstoppable. This means that you can’t take a bucket out until all its objects have been disposed of. Your retention period can be extended or decreased.
Permissions for objects and buckets
Google Cloud Identity and Access Management can be used to restrict access to your objects and buckets. This topic will be covered in GCP 101. You can also grant users access to all items within a bucket by adding them to the bucket. You can be even more specific by giving individual users object-level rights but not granting them access other data in a budget.
Access at Every Bucket Level
Are you looking to limit who has access to which buckets of your storage resources? Google Cloud Storage’s Uniform Bucket Level Access allows you to control who has access to your storage resources. Access Control Lists (ACLs) are available in all accounts.
Encryption keys
encryption key provides standard, server-side encryption keys to protect your storage solution. However, you can also provide your own keys for additional protection. These encryption keys can be used to encrypt data and include the object’s CRC32C checksum and the MD5 hash. Your encryption keys will not be stored on the Cloud Storage Server for indefinitely. After the transaction is completed, they are removed from Google’s servers. An alternative is to use an external Key Management Service (KMS), that elimi