Google Persistent Disk & Google Filestore Services

Before we begin learning about Google Persistent Disk & Google Filestore Services, we will talk about different types of Storage Options provided by the Google Cloud Platform. Then, we will study Google Persistent Disk & Google Filestore Services in detail. We will study the features, types, and prices of both Storage Options. And Finally, we will have a comparison between both of them.

Types of Storages

There are three different types of Google Cloud storage.

• Block Storage: It is a type of data storage that helps you manage your data in fixed-sized blocks or chunks. Data is stored by dividing into blocks, which are stored as kilobytes(Kb) or megabytes(Mb) in size. Each stored data block is assigned a unique identifier or address. Persistent Disk and Local SSD are examples of Block Storage.
• File Storage: It is a method of storing and organizing your data in a hierarchical structure, where the data stored is grouped into files and folders. It is very similar to on-premises Network Attached Storage(NAS). Filestore, NetApp Cloud Volumes, etc. are examples of Object Storage.
• Object Storage: It is a method of storage in which data is stored as objects in a hierarchy of buckets in which each object is assigned an ID that is globally Unique. 

What is Google Persistent Disk?

Google Persistent Disk is a block storage service that Google Cloud Platform (GCP) provides with durability and high-performance storage for virtual machine instances. It allows you to attach persistent disks to your virtual machine instances. Persistent Disk provides

• High-Performance
• Reliability

Features of Google Persistent Disk

• Durability: Persistent Disk provides durable storage, which is designed to be able to withstand failures. It replicates your data within the same zone, which ensures data integrity and protection against infrastructure failures.
• Scalability: With Persistent Disk, you can meet your changing needs by quickly scaling your storage capacity. You can easily create and attach multiple disks to your virtual machine instance and resize your disks dynamically while they are also attached to running instances.
• Performance: Google offers both Standard Persistent Disk(HDD) and SSD Persistent Disk options, allowing you to choose the level of performance which is perfect for your application.
• Snapshots and Backups: Persistent Disk also provides you with snapshot functionality, allowing you to create backups of your disk data in time. Snapshots are incremental, which means only the data which gets changes is stored in subsequent snapshots. It makes persistent disk efficient and also minimizes storage costs. Snapshots are best for backing up your data for disaster recovery and cloning purposes, which allows you to protect and manage your data effectively.
• Integration with Google Cloud Services: Persistent Disk easily integrates with other services and features offered by Google Cloud. It works smoothly with Compute Engine, which allows you to attach and detach disks to your virtual machine instances easily. It also helps us integrate with other services, such as Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), where you can use Persistent Disk for your containerized workloads as the storage solution. 
• Cost-Effective: Persistent Disk offers you cost-effective storage options which are suitable for various workloads. The pricing for Persistent Disk is transparent and depends on factors such as disk size, type (standard or SSD or Balanced SSD), and data transfer.
• Automatic security and encryption: It also encrypts your data automatically before it is transferred out of your instance to Persistent Disk storage. Data of each Persistent Disk remains encrypted with customer-supplied keys ( or with system-defined keys).

Types of Google Persistent Disks

1. Standard Persistent Disks (HDD)
2. Balanced Persistent Disks (SSD)
3. Performance Persistent Disks (SSD)
4. Extreme Persistent Disks (SSD)
5. Local SSDs

Standard Persistent Disk

Standard Persistent Disk is the default type of disk which is provided by Google Cloud. It offers the cost-effectiveness and reliability of block storage for virtual machine instances.
Key features of Standard Persistent Disk include:

• Balanced Performance
• HDD-based Storage
• Scalability
• Durability
• Snapshot Support

SSD Persistent Disk

SSD Persistent Disk uses solid-state drives (SSD) for storage and provides better performance as compared to the Standard Persistent Disk. It is designed for fast and responsive storage of your data.
Key features of SSD Persistent Disk include:

1. High Performance
2. SSD-based Storage
3. Scalability
4. Durability
5. Snapshot Support

Pricing of Google Persistent Disk

Standard persistent disks (HDD), SSD persistent disks, and Balanced persistent disks prices are based on the amount of provisioned space. Since disk performance increases linearly with the size of your disk, you must consider your I/O needs when you are deciding the size of your disk. Extreme persistent disk prices are based on the amount of provisioned space and the number of provisioned IOPS. So, you are charged for both the amount of space you utilize and your need for the number of IOPS. The below table shows the pricing of different Persistent Disks. Pricing varies from region to region. Here, You can check the price comparison of different types of Persistent Disks in Delhi(Asia-south2 region).

[IOPS – Input/Output Operations per second.]

Type	Price (Monthly in $ USD)
Standard provisioned space	$0.048 per GB
SSD provisioned space	$0.204 per GB
Balanced provisioned space	$0.12 per GB
Extreme provisioned space	$0.15 per GB
Extreme provisioned IOPS	$0.078 per IOPS provisioned
Regional standard provisioned space	$0.096 per GB
Regional SSD provisioned space	$0.408 per GB
Regional balanced provisioned space	$0.24 per GB
Hyperdisk Extreme provisioned space	$0.15 per GB
Hyperdisk Extreme provisioned IOPS	$0.038 per IOPS provisioned
Hyperdisk Throughput provisioned space	Unavailable
Hyperdisk Throughput provisioned throughput	Unavailable

Dividing different Persistent Disks as per their usage

Disk Type	Priced by
Standard Persistent Disk	Provisioned Space
SSD Persistent Disk	Provisioned Space
Balanced Persistent Disk	Provisioned Space
Extreme Persistent Disk	Provisioned Space and Provisioned IOPS

Google Filestore

Google Filestore is a managed file storage service which is offered by Google Cloud Platform (GCP). It provides a fully managed Network Attached Storage (NAS) solution. It helps in creating and managing file shares that multiple virtual machine instances can access concurrently. Filestore is designed to offer

• High-Performance
• Scalability
• Reliability

Features of Google Filestore

• High availability: Google Filestore instances are highly available, and have a 99.99% regional availability SLA.
• Scalability: Google Filestore instances can be easily scaled up or down as per your need, so you only need to pay for the storage that you use.
• Performance: Google Filestore offers very-good performance for your file-based workloads. It also supports NFSv3 and NFSv4.1, So, It is compatible with many other existing applications.
• Manageability: Google Filestore is a managed service, so you need not worry about managing the underlying infrastructure. So, It’s a good choice for organizations that don’t have the resources to manage their own file storage.
• Security: Filestore is a secure service that provides encryption at rest for data that is stored within the file shares. Data gets automatically encrypted with Google-managed keys before It is transferred to the disk. Additionally, Filestore also supports encryption in transit, which ensures that data is encrypted when data is being transferred between Filestore and clients who are accessing the file shares.

Types of Google Filestore

Google Filestore offers three different service tiers:

• Filestore Basic (HDD & SSD)
• Filestore Enterprise
• Filestore High Scale

We can further divide Filestore Basic (HDD & SSD) into two tiers

Filestore Basic (HDD & SSD) into Filestore Basic (HDD) and Filestore Basic (SSD).

• Basic HDD: This tier is the most affordable option. It is suitable for workloads watch do not require high performance or scalability.
• Basic SSD: This tier offers better performance than Basic HDD. It is mainly suitable for workloads that require some amount of IOPS.
• Filestore High-Scale SSD: This tier offers the best performance and scalability offered by GCP. It is suitable for workloads that require a high volume of IOPS.
• Filestore Enterprise: This tier is the most expensive option. It offers the highest level of performance, availability, and scalability. It is suitable for critical workloads.

Pricing of Google Filestore

Service Tier	Storage Capacity	Max Sequential Read Throughput (MB/s)	Max Random Read IOPS	Price ($)
Basic HDD	1-63.9 TiB	180	1000	0.24/GB/month
Basic SSD	2.5-63.9 TiB	1200	60,000	0.36/GB/month
High Scale SSD	10-100 TiB	26,000	960,000	0.36/GB/month
Enterprise	1-10 TiB	1200	57,000	0.72/GB/month

Details of Google Persistent Disk and Google Filestore

Feature	Google Persistent Disk	Google Filestore
Storage type	Block-based	File Storage based
Performance	High performance for a variety of workloads	Good performance for file-based workloads
Scalability	Can be scaled up or down as needed	Can be scaled up or down as needed
Manageability	Not a managed service	Managed service
Security	Encrypted at rest and in transit	Encrypted at rest and in transit
Pricing	More expensive than Google Filestore	More affordable than Google Persistent Disk
Use cases	Databases, high-performance computing, virtual machines, containerized applications	File sharing, media streaming, backup and disaster recovery, application development

Google Persistent Disk VS Google Filestore Services

Feature	Google Persistent Disk	Google Filestore
Durability	Very durable	Durable
Performance	High performance	Good performance
Scalability	Scalable	Not much scalable
Manageability	Not as easy to manage	Easy to manage
Compatibility	Compatible with a variety of Google Cloud Platform services	Compatible with NFS-based applications
Cost	More Expensive	More Affordable