Google Cloud Storage is a RESTful online file storage web service for storing and accessing data on Google Cloud Platform infrastructure.^[1] The service combines the performance and scalability of Google's cloud with advanced security and sharing capabilities.^[2] It is an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), comparable to Amazon S3. Contrary to Google Drive and according to different service specifications, Google Cloud Storage appears to be more suitable for enterprises.^[3]

Feasibility

User activation is resourced through the API Developer Console. Google Account holders must first access the service by logging in and then agreeing to the Terms of Service, followed by enabling a billing structure.

Design

Google Cloud Storage stores objects (originally limited to 100 GiB, currently up to 5 TiB) in projects which are organized into buckets. All requests are authorized using Identity and Access Management policies or access control lists associated with a user or service account. Bucket names and keys are chosen so that objects are addressable using HTTP URLs:

• https://storage.googleapis.com/bucket/object
• http://bucket.storage.googleapis.com/object
• https://storage.cloud.google.com/bucket/object

Features

Google Cloud Storage offers four storage classes, identical in throughput, latency and durability.^[4] The four classes, Multi-Regional Storage, Regional Storage, Nearline Storage, and Coldline Storage, differ in their pricing, minimum storage durations, and availability.^[5]

• Interoperability - Google Cloud Storage is interoperable with other cloud storage tools and libraries that work with services such as Amazon S3 and Eucalyptus Systems.^[6]
• Consistency - Upload operations to Google Cloud Storage are atomic, providing strong read-after-write consistency for all upload operations.
• Access Control - Google Cloud Storage uses access control lists (ACLs) to manage object and bucket access. An ACL consists of one or more entries, each granting a specific permission to a scope. Permissions define what someone can do with an object or bucket (for example, READ or WRITE). Scopes define who the permission applies to. For example, a specific user or a group of users (such as Google account email addresses, Google Apps domain, public access, etc.)
• Resumable Uploads - Google Cloud Storage provides a resumable data transfer feature that allows users to resume upload operations after a communication failure has interrupted the flow of data.