What is Google Cloud Platform (GCP)? — Introduction to GCP Services & GCP Account
In recent years the market for Cloud Computing has grown unexpectedly. There are many Cloud providers in the market today such as VM Ware, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure, IBM Cloud, and many more. According to Gartner’s prediction, the worldwide public cloud service market will be $178 Billion in 2018, from $146 Billion in 2017, and will continue to grow at 22% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate). So let’s begin with our What is Google Cloud Platform Blog.
In this blog, we’ll be covering the following topics:
- What is the Google Cloud Platform (GCP)?
- What is Cloud Computing?
- Why Google Cloud Platform?
- GCP Regions and Zones
- Google Cloud Platform Services
- Creating a Free Tier GCP Account
What is the Google Cloud Platform (GCP)?
Google Cloud Platform is a set of Computing, Networking, Storage, Big Data, Machine Learning, and Management services provided by Google that runs on the same Cloud infrastructure that Google uses internally for its end-user products, such as Google Search, Gmail, Google Photos and YouTube.
You can go through this Google Cloud Provider video lecture where our GCP Training expert is discussing each & every nitty-gritty of the technology.
So before looking into the details of Google Cloud Platform, Let’s understand Cloud Computing First.
What is Cloud Computing?
Cloud computing is the on-demand delivery of computing power, database storage, applications, and other IT resources through a cloud services platform via the internet with pay-as-you-go pricing. It is the use of remote servers on the internet to store, manage and process data rather than a local server or your personal computer.
Cloud computing allows companies to avoid or minimize up-front IT infrastructure costs to keep their applications up and running faster, with improved manageability and less maintenance, and that it enables IT, teams, to adjust resources rapidly to meet fluctuating and unpredictable demand.
Cloud-computing providers offer their services according to different models, of which the three standard models per NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology ) are :
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
- Platform as a Service (PaaS), and
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
Why Google Cloud Platform?
Now that you have a brief idea of What is Google Cloud Platform and Cloud Computing, let’s understand why one must go for it. Google Cloud Platform, is a suite of cloud computing services that run on the same infrastructure that Google uses internally for its end-user products, such as Google Search, Gmail, Google Photos, and YouTube. We all know how big is the database of Gmail, Youtube, and Google Search.
And I don’t think in recent years, Google’s server has gone down. It’s one of the biggest in the world, so it seems an obvious choice, to trust them, Right?
So now look at some of the features of GCP that really give it an upper hand over other vendors.
Google Cloud Platform Regions and Zones
Google Cloud Platform services are available in various locations across North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. These locations are divided into regions and zones. You can choose where to locate your applications to meet your latency, availability, and durability requirements.
What are Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Services?
Google offers a wide range of Services. Following are the major Google Cloud Services:
- Compute
- Networking
- Storage and Databases
- Big Data
- Machine Learning
- Identity & Security
- Management and Developer Tools
Compute: GCP provides a scalable range of computing options you can tailor to match your needs. It provides highly customizable virtual machines. and the option to deploy your code directly or via containers.
- Google Compute Engine
- Google App Engine
- Google Kubernetes Engine
- Google Cloud Container Registry
- Cloud Functions
Networking: The Storage domain includes services related to networking, it includes the following services
- Google Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)
- Google Cloud Load Balancing
- Content Delivery Network
- Google Cloud Interconnect
- Google Cloud DNS
Storage and Databases: The Storage domain includes services related to data storage, it includes the following services
- Google Cloud Storage
- Cloud SQL
- Cloud Bigtable
- Google Cloud Datastore
- Persistent Disk
Big Data: The Storage domain includes services related to big data, it includes the following services
- Google BigQuery
- Google Cloud Dataproc
- Google Cloud Datalab
- Google Cloud Pub/Sub
Cloud AI: The Storage domain includes services related to machine learning, it includes the following services
- Cloud Machine Learning
- Vision API
- Speech API
- Natural Language API
- Translation API
- Jobs API
Identity & Security: The Storage domain includes services related to security, it includes the following services
- Google Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)
- Google Cloud Load Balancing
- Content Delivery Network
- Google Cloud Interconnect
- Google Cloud DNS
Management Tools: The Storage domain includes services related to monitoring and management, it includes the following services
- Google Cloud Storage
- Cloud SQL
- Cloud Bigtable
- Google Cloud Datastore
- Persistent Disk
Developer Tools: The Storage domain includes services related to development, it includes the following services
- Cloud SDK
- Deployment Manager
- Cloud Source Repositories
- Cloud Test Lab
Now that we have learned What is Google Cloud Platform is, To gain access to these Services, you need to just create a free account on GCP. You get $300 worth of credit to spend it over a period of 12 months. You need to provide your card details, but you won’t be charged extra after your trial period ends or you have exhausted the $300 credit.
After you create an account. Go to Console.
Here you will have a Dashboard that gives a summary of the GCP Services you are using, along with the Stats and Billing Report.
In this section of Google Cloud Platform, you can find the summarized view of the following:
- Project Info
- Resources being used
- Various API’s running
- Compute Engine (CPU Usage %)
- Google Cloud Platform Status
- Billing of Services per Project
- Error Reporting
- Data Trace
- Tutorials
- News and Updates about Google Cloud Platform
- Documentation
So this is it, guys!
I hope you enjoyed this What is Google Cloud Platform blog. If you are reading this, Congratulations! You are no longer a newbie to GCP.
If you wish to check out more articles on the market’s most trending technologies, then you can refer to Edureka’s official site.
Got a question for us? Please mention it in the comments section and we will get back to you.
Originally published at https://www.edureka.co on March 6, 2018.
