This page explains the concept of
storage class
and the differences between
storage classes.
Key concepts
A
storage class
is a piece of
metadata
that is used by every object.
The storage class set for an object affects the object's availability
and
pricing model
.
When you
create a bucket
, you can specify a
default storage class
for the bucket. When you add objects to the bucket, they inherit this storage
class unless explicitly set otherwise.
If you don't specify a default storage class when you create a bucket,
that bucket's default storage class is set to Standard storage.
Changing the default storage class of a bucket
does not affect any
of the objects that already exist in the bucket.
You can change the storage class of an existing object either by
rewriting the object
or by using
Object Lifecycle Management
.
You can enable the
Autoclass
feature on a bucket to let
Cloud Storage manage storage class transitions for you
automatically.
Available storage classes
The following table summarizes the primary storage classes offered by
Cloud Storage. See
class descriptions
for a complete
discussion.
Storage Class
|
Name for APIs and CLIs
|
Minimum storage duration
|
Retrieval fees
|
Typical monthly availability
1
|
Standard storage
|
STANDARD
|
None
|
None
|
- >99.99% in multi-regions and dual-regions
- 99.99% in regions
|
Nearline storage
|
NEARLINE
|
30 days
|
Yes
|
- 99.95% in multi-regions and dual-regions
- 99.9% in regions
|
Coldline storage
|
COLDLINE
|
90 days
|
Yes
|
- 99.95% in multi-regions and dual-regions
- 99.9% in regions
|
Archive storage
|
ARCHIVE
|
365 days
|
Yes
|
- 99.95% in multi-regions and dual-regions
- 99.9% in regions
|
1
See the
class descriptions
for the
availability
SLA
for each storage class.
Class descriptions
The following aspects apply to all storage classes:
- Unlimited storage with unlimited access.
- No minimum object size.
- Worldwide accessibility and worldwide
storage locations
.
- Low latency (time to first byte typically tens of milliseconds).
- High durability (99.999999999% annual durability).
- Redundant across regions
if the data is stored in a multi-region or
dual-region.
- A uniform experience with Cloud Storage features, security,
tools, and APIs.
Standard storage
Standard storage is best for data that is frequently accessed ("hot" data)
and/or stored for only brief periods of time.
When used in a region, Standard storage is appropriate for storing data in
the same location as
Google Kubernetes Engine clusters
or
Compute Engine instances
that use the data. Co-locating your resources
maximizes the performance for data-intensive computations and can reduce
network charges.
When used in a dual-region, you still get optimized performance when accessing
Google Cloud products that are located in one of the associated regions, but
you also get the improved availability that comes from storing data in
geographically separate locations.
When used in a multi-region, Standard storage is appropriate for storing data
that is accessed around the world, such as serving website content, streaming
videos, executing interactive workloads, or serving data supporting mobile and
gaming applications.
Availability
The availability of Standard storage data is:
Location Type
|
Availability SLA
1
|
Typical monthly availability
|
multi-region
|
99.95%
|
>99.99%
|
dual-region
|
99.95%
|
>99.99%
|
region
|
99.9%
|
99.99%
|
1
The availability SLA is the monthly uptime percentage backed by
the
Cloud Storage SLA
. If Google fails to meet that uptime,
customers are eligible to receive a credit as described in the
Cloud Storage SLA.
Nearline storage
Nearline storage is a low-cost, highly durable storage service for storing
infrequently accessed data. Nearline storage is a better choice than
Standard storage in scenarios where slightly lower availability, a 30-day
minimum storage duration, and costs for data access are acceptable trade-offs
for lowered
at-rest storage costs
.
Nearline storage is ideal for data you plan to read or modify on average once
per month or less. For example, if you want to continuously add files to
Cloud Storage and plan to access those files once a month for
analysis, Nearline storage is a great choice.
Nearline storage is also appropriate for data backup, long-tail multimedia
content, and data archiving. Note, however, that for data accessed less
frequently than once a quarter, Coldline storage or Archive storage are more
cost-effective, as they offer lower storage costs.
Availability
The availability of Nearline storage data is:
Location Type
|
Availability SLA
1
|
Typical monthly availability
|
multi-region
|
99.9%
|
99.95%
|
dual-region
|
99.9%
|
99.95%
|
region
|
99.0%
|
99.9%
|
1
The availability SLA is the monthly uptime percentage backed by
the
Cloud Storage SLA
. If Google fails to meet that uptime,
customers are eligible to receive a credit as described in the
Cloud Storage SLA.
Coldline storage
Coldline storage is a very-low-cost, highly durable storage service for
storing infrequently accessed data. Coldline storage is a better choice than
Standard storage or Nearline storage in scenarios where slightly lower
availability, a 90-day minimum storage duration, and higher costs for data
access are acceptable trade-offs for lowered
at-rest storage costs
.
Coldline storage is ideal for data you plan to read or modify at most once a
quarter. Note, however, that for data being kept entirely for backup or
archiving purposes, Archive storage is more cost-effective, as it offers the
lowest storage costs.
Availability
The availability of Coldline storage data is:
Location Type
|
Availability SLA
1
|
Typical monthly availability
|
multi-region
|
99.9%
|
99.95%
|
dual-region
|
99.9%
|
99.95%
|
region
|
99.0%
|
99.9%
|
1
The availability SLA is the monthly uptime percentage backed by
the
Cloud Storage SLA
. If Google fails to meet that uptime,
customers are eligible to receive a credit as described in the
Cloud Storage SLA.
Archive storage
Archive storage is the lowest-cost, highly durable storage service for data
archiving, online backup, and disaster recovery. Unlike the "coldest" storage
services offered by other Cloud providers, your data is available within
milliseconds, not hours or days.
Like Nearline storage and Coldline storage, Archive storage has a slightly
lower availability than Standard storage. Archive storage also has higher
costs for data access and operations, as well as a 365-day minimum storage
duration. Archive storage is the best choice for data that you plan to access
less than once a year. For example:
Cold data storage - Archived data, such as data stored for legal
or regulatory reasons, can be stored at low cost as Archive storage, yet
still be available if you need it.
Disaster recovery - In the event of a disaster recovery event, recovery
time is key. Cloud Storage provides low latency access to data stored as
Archive storage.
Availability
The availability of Archive storage data is:
Location Type
|
Availability SLA
1
|
Typical monthly availability
|
multi-region
|
99.9%
|
99.95%
|
dual-region
|
99.9%
|
99.95%
|
region
|
99.0%
|
99.9%
|
1
The availability SLA is the monthly uptime percentage backed by
the
Cloud Storage SLA
. If Google fails to meet that uptime,
customers are eligible to receive a credit as described in the
Cloud Storage SLA.
Additional classes
Cloud Storage supports several additional legacy storage classes;
however, these legacy classes cannot be set using the Google Cloud console.
Unless you already are using one of these legacy classes, you should use
Standard storage instead.
Multi-Regional storage
: Equivalent to Standard storage, except
Multi-Regional storage can only be used for objects stored in
multi-regions
or
dual-regions
.
Regional storage
: Equivalent to Standard storage, except
Regional storage can only be used for objects stored in
regions
.
Durable Reduced Availability (DRA) storage
: Similar to Standard storage except:
- DRA has higher pricing for operations.
- DRA has lower performance, particularly in terms of
availability (DRA has a 99% availability SLA).
You can move your data from DRA to other storage classes by
performing a storage transfer
.
What's next
Try it for yourself
If you're new to Google Cloud, create an account to evaluate how
Cloud Storage performs in real-world
scenarios. New customers also get $300 in free credits to run, test, and
deploy workloads.
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