Google Cloud Load Balancer Pricing – Analyzing the Cost and Benefits

Google Cloud Load Balancing is a completely managed service that distributes visitors throughout more than one instance of your application. It offers loads of features to help you enhance your programs’ performance, scalability, and reliability.

Pricing structure of the Google Cloud Load Balancer

Google Cloud uses a pay-as-you-go pricing model, so you simply pay for the sources you operate. The pricing for Cloud Load Balancing varies depending on the form of the load balancer, the place wherein its miles are deployed, and the number of statistics processed.

Google Cloud Load Balancing offers three tiers:

1. Standard Tier

This tier is designed for maximum not unusual load balancing use cases. It gives lots of capabilities, such as worldwide load balancing, nearby load balancing, and network load balancing. The popular tier is billed primarily based on the amount of information processed by using the load balancer.

Pricing:

• Inbound data processed by using load balancer: $0.008 – $0.012 in step with GB (based on place)
• Outbound statistics processed by load balancer: $0.008 – $0.012 per GB (primarily based on region)
• Forwarding rules: $0.025 in step with an hour for the primary 5 rules, plus $0.01 per hour for each additional rule.

Features of Standard Tier

• Global load balancing: Distributes traffic to backends across multiple regions or zones.
• Regional load balancing: Distributes traffic to backends across a single region.
• Network load balancing: Distributes traffic to backends at the IP and port level.
• Autoscaling: Automatically scales the number of backends based on demand.
• Health tests: Tests the availability and health of backends.
• Session affinity: Directs traffic to the same backend for a sticky session.
• SSL/TLS termination: Terminates SSL/TLS connections on behalf of backends.
• HTTP/2 guide: A protocol that improves the performance of web applications.

Advantages of Standard Tier

• Most fee-effective tier for most use cases
• Offers a huge variety of capabilities
• Highly scalable

Disadvantages of Standard Tier

• Not as customizable as the top rate tier
• Does not provide all of the functions of the top class tier

2. Premium Tier

This tier is designed for greater disturbing load balancing use cases, which includes excessive-quantity packages and programs that require superior features. The premium tier offers all of the functions of the usual tier, plus additional capabilities including international HTTP(S) load balancing, Cloud CDN integration, and superior health checks. The premium tier is billed based totally on a aggregate of statistics processed and capabilities used.

Pricing:

• Inbound facts processed by load balancer: $0.012 – $0.016 in keeping with GB (based totally on vicinity)
• Outbound statistics processed by load balancer: $0.012 – $0.016 in line with GB (primarily based on region)
• Forwarding rules: $0.0.5 in step with hour for the first 5 policies, plus $0.01 in keeping with hour for each additional rule.
• Global HTTP(S) load balancing: $0.1/2 according to GB
• Cloud CDN integration: $0.0.5 in keeping with GB
• Advanced health exams: $0.0.5 in line with health check

Features of Premium Tier

• All of the functions of the same old tier
• Global HTTP(S) load balancing: Distributes HTTP and HTTPS traffic to backends across multiple regions or zones.
• Cloud CDN integration: Improves the performance of web applications by caching static content at the edge of the network.
• Advanced health checks: Provides more granular control over health checks, such as the ability to specify the frequency of checks and the number of failed checks before a backend is considered unhealthy.
• Priority-based routing: Routes traffic to backends in a specific order, such as routing high-priority traffic to one backend and low-priority traffic to another backend.
• Geo-based routing: Routes traffic to backends based on the client’s geographic location, such as routing traffic from the United States to a backend in the United States and traffic from Europe to a backend in Europe.
• Weighted routing: Routes traffic to backends based on a weight that is assigned to each backend, such as routing 70% of traffic to one backend and 30% of traffic to another backend.
• Custom load balancing algorithms: Allows you to create your own load balancing algorithms to meet your specific needs, such as an algorithm that routes traffic to the backend with the lowest latency.

Advantages of Premium Tier

• Most customizable tier
• Offers the maximum advanced capabilities
• Highly scalable

Disadvantages of Premium Tier

• Most highly-priced tier
• Not essential for most use cases

3. Internal tier

This tier is designed for internal load balancing use instances. It is billed primarily based on the number of forwarding guidelines created.

Pricing:

The value of the inner tier is based on the number of forwarding regulations created. The first five forwarding rules are free, and every extra forwarding rule fees $0.1/2 in keeping with hour.

Features of Internal Tier

• Autoscaling: The load balancer can routinely scale the quantity of backends primarily based on demand.
• Health checks: The load balancer can perform health tests on backends to ensure that they’re to be had and healthy.
• Session affinity: The load balancer can direct visitors to the equal backend for a sticky session.
• SSL/TLS termination: The load balancer can terminate SSL/TLS connections on behalf of backends.

Advantages of Internal Tier

• Cost-powerful for inner load balancing use instances
• Easy to installation and manipulate
• Provides numerous useful functions, which includes autoscaling, fitness assessments, session affinity, and SSL/TLS termination

Disadvantages of Internal Tier

• Does now not offer all the features of the usual and top rate ranges, which include worldwide load balancing and Cloud CDN integration
• Not as customizable as the standard and premium stages

Note: Click this link to understand the Pricing structure of the Google Cloud load balancer in a detailed manner.

Example Pricing according to the scaling of your application

Let’s say you have an utility that gets 1TB of inbound site visitors in line with month and sends 1TB of outbound visitors in line with month. You are the use of the usual tier of Google Cloud Load Balancing. Your month-to-month value could be:

• Inbound statistics processed by load balancer: $8 – $12 consistent with month (based totally on area)
• Outbound facts processed with the aid of load balancer: $8 – $12 consistent with month (based totally on area)
• Forwarding regulations: $0.25 according to month for the primary 5 regulations, plus $0.01 consistent with month for every extra rule
• Total cost: $16.25 – $25.25 in line with month

If you were to scale your software to acquire 10TB of inbound site visitors in keeping with month and ship 10TB of outbound site visitors according to month, your monthly fee might be:

• Inbound statistics processed by load balancer: $80 – $120 per month(based totally on area)
• Outbound statistics processed by way of load balancer: $80 – $120 per month (based totally on place)
• Forwarding policies: $0.25 consistent with month for the first five policies, plus $0.01 according to month for each additional rule
• Total value: $160.25 – $240.25 according to month

Free or trial version in Google Cloud Platform

Google Cloud offers a loose trial that consists of $300 in credits to use on any Google Cloud product, along with Cloud Load Balancing. The unfastened trial lasts for 365 days.

Pay-As-You-Go version

The pay-as-you-go model is a pricing model wherein clients pay for the resources they use, rather than purchasing a subscription or a hard and fast amount of resources. This model is beneficial for customers who have unpredictable site visitors styles or who want to scale their assets up or down quickly.

Factors that affect the Pricing

The following elements affect the pricing of Google Cloud Load Balancing:

• Type of load balancer: There are 4 styles of load balancers offered by way of Google Cloud: HTTP(S), TCP, Network, and Internal. Each kind of load balancer has a unique pricing shape.
• Region: The area in which the load balancer is deployed also affects the pricing. Different regions have distinct pricing for Google Cloud Load Balancing.
• Amount of records processed: The amount of data processed by way of the load balancer is the another factor that influences the pricing. Google Cloud prices for inbound and outbound facts processed by the load balancer.
• Advanced Features: Google Cloud Load Balancer offers various advanced features, such as SSL termination, content-based routing, and security features like Cloud Armor (Web Application Firewall). Enabling these features can result in additional costs
• Monitoring and Logging: To ensure your application’s scalability, you may need to set up monitoring, logging, and diagnostics. Google Cloud provides various tools like Stackdriver Monitoring and Logging, which may have associated costs.

Use cases for which Google Cloud Load Balancer is a cost-effective solution

Google Cloud Load Balancer is a fee-powerful solution for numerous use instances, including:

• Web programs: Google Cloud Load Balancer may be used to distribute visitors throughout more than one times of your web application. This can help to improve the overall performance and scalability of your net application.
• Mobile programs: Google Cloud Load Balancer can be used to distribute traffic across more than one instances of your mobile utility backend. This can help to enhance the overall performance and scalability of your cell software.
• Gaming packages: Google Cloud Load Balancer may be used to distribute site visitors across more than one times of your gaming utility backend. This can help to improve the performance and scalability of your gaming software.
• API servers: Google Cloud Load Balancer can be used to distribute traffic throughout more than one times of your API servers. This can help to enhance the overall performance and scalability of your API servers.

How Scalability affects the cost of the Google Cloud Load Balancer?

Google Cloud Load Balancer is extraordinarily scalable, so that you can easily scale the range of load balancers and backend times up or down as wished. This allow you to to save cash when you have much less visitors and avoid overpaying for assets if you have greater site visitors.

Hidden Costs in Gooogle Cloud Load Balancer

There are some hidden expenses which you need to be aware about whilst the usage of Google Cloud Load Balancing:

1. Data processing charges

Google Cloud charges for inbound and outbound facts processed through the weight balancer. These charges can upload up, specially when you have a number of site visitors.

Pricing: $0.008 – $0.016 per GB (inbound and outbound)

Example:

Let’s say your load balancer processes 1TB of inbound traffic per month and 1TB of outbound traffic per month. Your data processing charges would be $16 – $32 per month.

2. Backend instance prices

You also need to pay for the backend times that are utilized by Google Cloud Load Balancer. The fee of backend instances will vary relying at the type of instances you use and the place where they are deployed.

Pricing: Varies depending on the type and size of the backend instances used

Example:

Let’s say you are using three Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) nodes to serve your application. The cost of the GKE nodes would vary depending on the type and size of the nodes, but it would typically be in the hundreds of dollars per month range.

3. Network egress costs

Google Cloud fees for all network egress site visitors, consisting of visitors from load balancers. The cost of network egress visitors varies relying at the area.

Pricing: $0.01 – $0.08 per GB (based on region)

Example:

Let’s say you have a load balancer in the US region and you send 1TB of outbound traffic per month. Your network egress charges would be $8 – $80 per month (based on the type of traffic and the destination).

4. Health check prices

Google Cloud expenses for health exams. The fee of health tests varies relying at the form of health check used.

Pricing: $0.002 – $0.005 per health check (based on the type of health check used)

Example:

Let’s say you have a load balancer with 10 health checks. Your health check charges would be $0.02 – $0.05 per month (based on the type of health check used).

5. SSL/TLS termination costs

Google Cloud charges for SSL/TLS termination. The cost of SSL/TLS termination varies depending on the tier of load balancing used.

Pricing: $0.005 – $0.01 per GB (based on the type of SSL/TLS certificate used)

Example:

Let’s say you have a load balancer with a managed SSL/TLS certificate. Your SSL/TLS termination charges would be $5 – $10 per month (based on the amount of traffic processed through the load balancer).

Paid or free customer support for Google Cloud Load Balancer

• Google Cloud offers paid customer service for all of its merchandise, such as Cloud Load Balancing.
• Paid customer service affords priority get admission to to aid engineers and 24/7 assist.
• Google Cloud additionally offers a unfastened community assist forum in which you can ask questions and get help from different Google Cloud users.

Benefits of using Google Cloud Load Balancer

Here are some of the benefits of the usage of Google Cloud Load Balancing:

• Pay-as-you-go pricing: Google Cloud Load Balancing uses a pay-as-you-move pricing version, so you only pay for the resources you operate. This permit you to to save money if you have unpredictable visitors patterns or if you need to scale your resources up or down speedy.
• High scalability: Google Cloud Load Balancing is relatively scalable, so you can without problems scale the wide variety of load balancers and backend times up or down as needed. This will let you to avoid overpaying for sources when you have less visitors.
• Global load balancing: Google Cloud Load Balancing can be used to distribute site visitors across more than one regions. This let you to improve the performance and reliability of your programs for users all around the global.
• Integrations with different Google Cloud services: Google Cloud Load Balancing integrates with different Google Cloud services, which includes Cloud CDN.