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Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of system resources remotely, especially data storage and computing power, without direct interactions with system resources. Cloud computing is evolving for best performance and manageability with less maintenance. We have a lot of players in cloud computing, and AWS & Azure is leading the market capita. Now it is time for Google to bring in their specialty services in cloud computing to a wide range of customer base in the form of Google Cloud. 

Google cloud is a suite of computing resources provided by Google. It is hosted publicly and contains resources like Compute, storage, networking, application development etc. The services can leverage by a human prodigy with minimal technical knowledge. Currently, Google leading cloud computing providers in building, testing, and deploying the applications in real-time environment. In April 2008, Google introduced App service as part of Google infra as a platform.

Key Features – Google Cloud Platform

Google Cloud Platform
  • OnDemand services
    • Automated environment with web-based tools
    • No manual interventions
  • Broad Network access
    • Anywhere access
  • Resource pooling
    • On demand availability of shared resources
  • Rapid elasticity
    • More and less resources availability based on need
  • Measured services
    • Pay as you consume
    • Easy to pay feature

Google Cloud Platform Services

We have below categories of service offerings from Google Cloud. There are other existing offerings from Google cloud platform, however below most used ones.

Google Cloud Platform Services

Let’s walk through over GCP service in comparison with AWS and Azure equivalent resources to make it familiar.

Compute Services

 Service TypeFeaturesAWSAzure
Google App EnginePaaSDeploy PHP, Java, and other softwareAutomatic scaling – automatically allocates more resources  AWS Elastic BeanstalkAzure App Service
Compute EngineIaaSVirtual Machines  Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)Azure Virtual Machines
Kubernetes EnginePaaS like orchestration engine  Automatic DeploymentSupports DockerAmazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS), Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS)Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

Networking

 Service TypeFeaturesAWSAzure
Virtual Private Network (VPN)Network securitySecure networkRoutingFirewall policies  AWS Virtual Private Network (VPN)Azure Virtual Private Network (VPN)
Cloud Load BalancingLoad balancer  Workload distributionCost reductionMinimize and maximize availability of resources  AWS Elastic Load BalancingAzure Load Balancing
Content Delivery NetworkCDNGeographically distributeProxy servers and Data centersPerformance centricAmazon CloudFrontAzure CDN

Storage Services

 Service TypeFeaturesAWSAzure
Cloud StorageObject storageOnline data storageAny data type storage is allowed  AWS Simple Storage Service (S3)Azure Blob Storage
Cloud SQLRDBMSRelational databaseMaintain and protects data  Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS), Amazon AuroraAzure Database for MySQL and Azure Database for PostgreSQL
Cloud BigtableNoSQL: Key-value  No SQL DbFast performanceHigh manageableScalableAs low as 1TB to Hundreds of PBAmazon DynamoDBAzure Cosmos DB

Big Data

 Service TypeFeaturesAWSAzure
BigQueryData WarehouseData Analysis serviceAnalyze big dataPerform ad-hoc queries and share data insights across web  Amazon Athena, Amazon RedshiftAzure Synapse Analytics
Cloud DataStoreNoSQL: IndexedData store serviceFully managed, schema-less, and non-relationalRich set of queriesAutomatic scaling  Amazon DynamoDBAzure Cosmos DB
Cloud DataprocOpen-source processingEasy and fast to use big data serviceManage Hadoop and Spark servicesAmazon Elastic MapReduce (EMR), AWS Batch, AWS GlueAzure Data Lake Analytics, HDInsight

Security and Identity Management

 Service TypeFeaturesAWSAzure
Cloud Data Loss Prevention APIData loss prevention (DLP)Manage sensitive dataCredit & Debit cards, passport numbersClassification of sensitive data  Amazon MacieAzure Information Protection
Cloud IAMIdentityCloud Identity and Access Management Rules and policiesValidates authenticationAWS Identity ServicesAzure Active Directory

Management tools

 Service TypeFeaturesAWSAzure
Cloud Stack driverReportingdisplaying the overall performance and diagnostics information Insights of data monitoring, tracing, logging, and error reportingAlert notification to the public cloud usersStack driverAzure Monitor
Cloud Console AppReportingNative mobile application Manage the core feature from their mobileAnytime & AnywhereAlerting, monitoring, and performing critical actions on resourcesNANA

Cloud AI

 Service TypeFeaturesAWSAzure
Cloud Natural Language AILanguage processingDerive insights from unstructured text using Google machine learning.Amazon ComprehendAzure Text Analytics
Cloud AutoMLML PlatformQuality trained data setsFollows Google’s transfer learning and Neural Architecture Search methodAmazon SageMaker AutopilotAzure Cognitive Services

Internet of things (IoT)

 Service TypeFeaturesAWSAzure
Cloud IoT CoreIOT PlatformFully managed core serviceAnalyze, process dataAWS IoT CoreAzure IoT Hub

Benefits

Google Cloud Platform Benefits

Pricing

  • Cheapest rates
  • Pay-as-you-go option
Work from Anywhere
  • Access from different systems and different locations
  • Web based application hosted and remotely accessed
Private Network
  • Own network
  • Smooth performance and increased efficiency over the network
Scalable
  • More scalable over private network
  • Uses fiber-optic cables to extend its network range – More scalable
  • Scale its network
Security
  • Best in class algorithms that encrypts all the data
  • Secure data from unauthorized calls
Redundant Backup
  • Adds data integrity, reliability, and durability
  • Until force delete, user’s data copy will be recovered
  • Backup in multiple locations

Disadvantages

Hoping GCP will overcome below aspects.

  • Limited choice of application programming acceptance
  • No real controls on VMs
  • Fewer global data centers
  • Fewer services

As a late comer to the cloud market, GCP is providing very limited services unlike bigger competitors like Azure & AWS. We have seen good increase in market capita share acquisition for GCP. The global cloud computing market size is expected to grow from USD 445.3 billion in 2021 to USD 947.3 billion by 2026, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 16.3% during the forecast period. As world is moving to Hybrid cloud strategy, GCP can increase their revenue with introduction of more services.