Last updated on July 6th, 2023
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Cloud storage is popular and flexible storage service. Object storage service in Google cloud platform is Cloud Storage.
Features of Google cloud storage
- Auto scaling and infinite scale
- Access control at object level
- Provides REST API to access and modify objects
- Supports storage of all file types
Data is stored in cloud using buckets and objects. Objects are stored in buckets.
How to Create Storage bucket in Google Cloud Platform
If you are new to Google cloud platform refer article to create tier account here Google cloud free tier account – Full Stack Tutorials Hub . Free Tier account provides 300 $ credit to learn and explore google cloud services.
Everything that you store in Cloud Storage must be contained in a bucket. You can use buckets to organize your data and control access to your data, but unlike directories and folders, you cannot nest buckets.
Search “google cloud storage ” and Under buckets menu click on create new bucket.
Bucket names are globally unique. Bucket names are used as a part of objects URLS. Object URLS are REST APIS’s used to access and modify objects.
Bucket names must meet the following requirements:
- Bucket names can only contain lowercase letters, numeric characters, dashes (
-), underscores (_), and dots (.). Spaces are not allowed - Bucket names must contain 3-63 characters. Names containing dots can contain up to 222 characters, but each dot-separated component can be no longer than 63 characters.
- Bucket names cannot begin with the “goog” prefix.
Bucket supports unlimited objects. Maximum size of single object is 5 TB.
Choose Where to Store Data
Google Cloud supports 3 different location types for data storage. Choice defines the geographic placement of your data and affects cost, performance, and availability. Location type cannot be changed later.
- A region is a specific geographic place, such as Sรฃo Paulo.
- A dual region is a specific pair of regions, such as Tokyo and Osaka.
- A multi-region is a large geographic area, such as the United States, that contains two or more geographic places.
All Cloud Storage data is redundant across at least two Zones within at least one geographic place as soon as you upload it. Availability and Price comparison can be checked here Bucket locations | Cloud Storage | Google Cloud .
Cloud storage classes
Different types of data can be stored on cloud storage including media files, videos, data backups. There are different access patterns depending on type of data. Storage class helps to optimize cost based on access needs.
When you create a bucket, you can specify a default storage class for the bucket. When you add objects to the bucket, they inherit this storage class unless explicitly set otherwise.
| Storage Class | Name for APIs | Minimum storage duration | Retrieval fees | Typical monthly availability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard storage | STANDARD | None | None | >99.99% in multi-regions and dual-regions 99.99% in regions |
| Nearline storage | Nearline | 30 days | Yes | 99.95% in multi-regions and dual-regions 99.9% in regions |
| Coldline storage | Coldline | 90 days | Yes | 99.95% in multi-regions and dual-regions 99.9% in regions |
| Archive storage | Archive | 365 days | Yes | 99.95% in multi-regions and dual-regions 99.9% in regions |
Select default options for access controls and object protections and click on create button. Once storage bucket is created upload storage objects.
Object can be accessed and modified using Authenticated URL.
Cloud storage versioning
To support the retrieval of objects that are deleted or replaced, Cloud Storage offers the Object Versioning feature.
Versioning can be enabled or disabled at bucket level. When Versioning is enabled and if live object is deleted it becomes non concurrent object version. If you delete non concurrent object version, then object is deleted.
Older versions are identified by (object key + generation number). Versioning increases storage cost since multiple versions of same objects are maintained.ย Each noncurrent version of an object isย chargedย at the same rate it was when it was live.
To learn more about google cloud data transfer options refer Exploring Google Cloud Data Transfer Options – Google Cloud Tutorials.
Next Steps
Object life cycle management
Cloud Storage Object life cycle management – Full Stack Tutorials Hub
Data Encryption options in Google Cloud Storage
Data Encryption options in Google cloud storage – Full Stack Tutorials Hub