Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Overview
Google Cloud Platform provides a suite of cloud computing services that run on the same infrastructure Google uses internally for its end-user products like Google Search, YouTube, and Gmail. GCP is especially strong in data analytics, machine learning, Kubernetes (GKE), and serverless computing.
GCP Core Services by Category
- Compute: Compute Engine, Cloud Run, Cloud Functions, GKE, App Engine
- Storage: Cloud Storage, Persistent Disks, Filestore
- Database: Cloud SQL, Cloud Spanner, Firestore, Bigtable
- Analytics: BigQuery, Dataflow, Pub/Sub, Dataproc
- Networking: VPC, Cloud Load Balancing, Cloud CDN, Cloud DNS
- AI/ML: Vertex AI, AutoML, Vision API, Natural Language API
Compute Engine
Compute Engine provides virtual machines (VMs) running on Google's infrastructure. It offers predefined and custom machine types, preemptible/spot VMs for cost savings, and sole-tenant nodes for compliance.
# Create a Compute Engine instance
gcloud compute instances create my-web-server \
--zone=us-central1-a \
--machine-type=e2-medium \
--image-family=ubuntu-2204-lts \
--image-project=ubuntu-os-cloud \
--boot-disk-size=20GB \
--tags=http-server,https-server \
--metadata=startup-script='#!/bin/bash
apt-get update
apt-get install -y nginx
systemctl start nginx'
# List instances
gcloud compute instances list
# SSH into an instance
gcloud compute ssh my-web-server --zone=us-central1-a
# Create a firewall rule for HTTP traffic
gcloud compute firewall-rules create allow-http \
--direction=INGRESS \
--priority=1000 \
--network=default \
--action=ALLOW \
--rules=tcp:80 \
--target-tags=http-serverCloud Storage
Cloud Storage is a unified, scalable, and highly durable object storage service. It offers multiple storage classes optimized for different use cases, from frequently accessed data to long-term archives.
# Create a bucket
gsutil mb -l us-central1 gs://my-app-bucket-2026/
# Upload files
gsutil cp -r ./build/* gs://my-app-bucket-2026/
# Sync a directory
gsutil rsync -r -d ./dist gs://my-app-bucket-2026/static/
# Set up static website hosting
gsutil web set -m index.html -e 404.html gs://my-app-bucket-2026/
# Make bucket publicly readable
gsutil iam ch allUsers:objectViewer gs://my-app-bucket-2026/
# Set lifecycle rules to move objects to cheaper storage
gsutil lifecycle set lifecycle.json gs://my-app-bucket-2026/Storage Classes
| Class | Min Duration | Use Case | Availability SLA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | None | Frequently accessed data | 99.99% |
| Nearline | 30 days | Accessed < once/month | 99.9% |
| Coldline | 90 days | Accessed < once/quarter | 99.9% |
| Archive | 365 days | Long-term archival | 99.9% |
Cloud Run
Cloud Run is a fully managed platform that automatically scales your containerized applications. You bring a container image, and Cloud Run handles the infrastructure. It is built on the open standard Knative, making your apps portable.
# Build and deploy a container to Cloud Run
gcloud builds submit --tag gcr.io/my-project/my-app
gcloud run deploy my-app \
--image gcr.io/my-project/my-app \
--platform managed \
--region us-central1 \
--allow-unauthenticated \
--port 3000 \
--memory 512Mi \
--cpu 1 \
--min-instances 0 \
--max-instances 10 \
--set-env-vars "NODE_ENV=production,DATABASE_URL=postgres://..."
# View service details
gcloud run services describe my-app --region us-central1
# View logs
gcloud run services logs read my-app --region us-central1BigQuery
BigQuery is a fully managed, serverless data warehouse that enables super-fast SQL queries using the processing power of Google's infrastructure. It can analyze terabytes of data in seconds and petabytes in minutes.
# Query a public dataset
bq query --use_legacy_sql=false '
SELECT
name,
SUM(number) as total
FROM `bigquery-public-data.usa_names.usa_1910_current`
WHERE year > 2000
GROUP BY name
ORDER BY total DESC
LIMIT 10
'
# Load data from Cloud Storage
bq load --autodetect \
--source_format=CSV \
my_dataset.my_table \
gs://my-bucket/data.csv
# Create a dataset
bq mk --dataset my_project:my_datasetGKE — Google Kubernetes Engine
GKE is a managed Kubernetes service that provides a production-ready environment for deploying containerized applications. Google invented Kubernetes, and GKE is widely considered the most mature managed Kubernetes offering.
# Create a GKE cluster
gcloud container clusters create my-cluster \
--zone us-central1-a \
--num-nodes 3 \
--machine-type e2-standard-2 \
--enable-autoscaling --min-nodes 1 --max-nodes 5
# Get credentials for kubectl
gcloud container clusters get-credentials my-cluster --zone us-central1-a
# Deploy an application
kubectl create deployment my-app --image=gcr.io/my-project/my-app:latest
kubectl expose deployment my-app --type=LoadBalancer --port=80 --target-port=3000Key Takeaways
- GCP excels in data analytics (BigQuery), Kubernetes (GKE), and serverless (Cloud Run)
- Compute Engine provides flexible VMs with custom machine types and preemptible instances
- Cloud Storage offers multiple storage classes for cost optimization
- Cloud Run simplifies container deployment with automatic scaling to zero
- GKE is the most mature managed Kubernetes offering, built by the creators of Kubernetes