Google Cloud Storage (GCS)

Cloud Storage is an object storage service designed for unstructured data like images, documents, and backups.

Concept: Buckets and Objects

Instead of organizing data into physical hard drives, Cloud Storage stores files as Objects inside logical containers called Buckets.

Features

1. Global Uniqueness: Bucket names must be globally unique across all of Google Cloud.
2. Storage Classes:
   • Standard: For data accessed frequently (like hot website images).
   • Nearline: For data accessed once a month.
   • Coldline: For data accessed once a quarter.
   • Archive: For data accessed once a year (primarily legal compliance archiving).
3. Lifecycle Rules: You can automate data degrading from Standard to Archive over a span of 365 days.