Our primary use case of this solution is to have it run as a database for an application and to store data. We are using the public deployment model of this solution. It runs really well, it's cheap, it's efficient, it's user-friendly,
Cloud Data Engineer at Programmads
Easy to use, efficient, simple, and user-friendly
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features are that it's easy to use, simple, and user-friendly."
- "I would like to see better integration with all the different tools on the platform."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are that it's easy to use, simple, and user-friendly.
What needs improvement?
Better integration with other tools could improve this solution. For example, data analytics is very important, so that's why I go to BigQuery. They should make things more user-friendly, not technically on the use of SQL but when it comes to integrating it with other tools, it could be like dashboards or business intelligence. I believe Google is already working on that as well because they bought Looker about a month ago. I would like to see better integration with all the different tools on the platform.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for two years.
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Google Cloud SQL
November 2024
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's very stable, we haven't had any issues at all.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It does have good scalability. We haven't had any problems with that.
We have ten users using this solution. Those users are clients who we provide services for. We do have plans to increase usage.
In terms of how many staff are required for the maintenance of this solution, in our team, we are eight. We do many things. Our focus now is on BigQuery, so data warehousing.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have previously worked with Microsoft and Amazon AWS. I switched because I just like Google. I think it's a great platform.
The two main competitors are Microsoft and Amazon Web Services. Out of these three, Google is the smallest when it comes to cloud in general, but I am pretty happy with how things are moving. I've been using Google for many years now and the services and it runs very well. I also use G Suite, Google Docs, you name it. It all works really well. It's user-friendly, to the point, it's not complicated. Whereas with Microsoft and some Amazon services can get quite complicated.
Although, maybe some of their services are more expanded, and maybe you can do some more. From a technical point, they are more advanced sometimes. You could say that for Amazon. My experience is that if a tool is easy to use and you get the job done in the fastest way possible, that tool has a great chance of becoming the leader because it's about user-friendliness. With Google, you get the job done and that's why you use these companies.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward. It took around ten minutes.
What about the implementation team?
I deployed this solution myself.
What was our ROI?
We have seen an ROI from this solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It's really cheap. It wouldn't be more than, I believe it's around 50 euro per month for running a cloud SQL.
There aren't any additional costs that I'm aware of.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I used Microsoft and Amazon and I also looked at Oracle, which is also an extraordinary company. When it comes to databases Oracle is very good. The problem with Oracle is that they're a bit of a world of their own. Whereas with Google, they're pretty open-source and open-minded, so they embrace the multi-cloud and hybrid cloud. That's what makes Google attractive.
What other advice do I have?
Go for this solution because it gets the job done and it's cheap. You're up and running fast. That's what you want.
I would rate this solution a nine out of ten. Not a perfect ten because nothing is perfect.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner.
SCRUM Master at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Fast with easy backup capabilities and a low learning curve
Pros and Cons
- "It's SQL. SQL is so easy if you know something about databases. It's easy to learn."
- "In the case of Google, they need to work on a more easy interface for users."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution due to the fact that our server instance, the data center instance, is in GCP.
What is most valuable?
The speed is very good.
It's useful in terms of the simplicity of doing backups.
You can have redundant databases for reports, for posts, for example.
It's SQL. SQL is so easy if you know something about databases. It's easy to learn.
I like the cloud aspect.
The pricing of the solution seems reasonable.
The solution is stable.
Google seems to be working on a data lake solution, and we are happy with that.
What needs improvement?
Other clouds, like Azure, have some specific products, and Google doesn't have something like that. For example, if you work in Google, you can use Dialogflow to make a chatbot. However, the Azure methodology or system is more powerful for those chatbots.
In the case of Google, they need to work on a more easy interface for users.
Azure is easier to learn. I don't know why. I like the Azure system, even though I'm a user of Google. I don't like it when on the screen you can't follow the steps clearly. The user interface just isn't as intuitive. When it comes to Google Cloud, in order to do something, you need to read more maybe. It requires more research and learning.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for two to three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable, however, maybe they need support for more databases. I remember some problems with the PostgreSQL integration with BigQuery or something like that. I don't remember now, however, from what I recall, we needed more support for other databases in GCP SQL.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have maybe 200 people using the solution right now in our organization.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We also use PostgreSQL in GCP and BigQuery too for extract information from Jira.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The licensing is charged yearly, however, I don't manage the cost of the cloud in my company. I only work with Atlassian products. We are users of GCP for our instance. When I work with data in Google Cloud, our data people say the cost is not a problem. I can make a dump of databases daily and store extractions in buckets, for example, every day, full data, all days. And it's not a problem, cost-wise.
What other advice do I have?
We are a customer and an end-user.
I'd rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Google Cloud SQL
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Google Cloud SQL. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Chief Architect at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
Stable database management solution that offers good performance and scalability
Pros and Cons
- "This is a stable solution and offers good performance."
- "To create a seamless data integration, the title integration of these databases with the data integration platforms is essential. This is what we would like to have in a future release."
What is most valuable?
We are focusing on data pipeline creation and data migration. It involves continuous streaming of data from one place to Google Cloud to be analyzed immediately.
What needs improvement?
Knowledge graphs and data integration is very important for distribution for our business. To create a seamless data integration, the title integration of these databases with the data integration platforms is essential. This is what we would like to have in a future release.
We would also like to have artificial intelligence capabilities. We are exploring the leverage of Machine Learning Algorithms for workload prediction and AI capabilities would assist in this regard.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this solution for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This is a stable solution and offers good performance.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
As this product is cloud based, it is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is good.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is not that complex.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
From a financial perspective, Google Cloud SQL is on the cheaper side.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did compare it with other solutions from Amazon and Microsoft. We received a special incentive from Google. That's why we went for Google Cloud SQL.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Senior Consultant at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
A perfect solution with perfect support and good security, storage, stability, and scalability
Pros and Cons
- "I found its storage and security to be the most valuable. It was a good experience. It is also very stable and scalable, and its support is perfect."
- "I am yet to explore a lot of features that are present in this solution. However, it would be good if more documentation is available for this solution. This would help us in preparing for the certification exam and understand it better. Currently, we don't have much documentation. We do the labs for 20 or 25 minutes, but we can't capture and download anything."
What is our primary use case?
I am using it for database purposes. I am learning it to prepare for my certification. I have done a few big uploads, which I have removed later on.
What is most valuable?
I found its storage and security to be the most valuable. It was a good experience.
It is also very stable and scalable, and its support is perfect.
What needs improvement?
I am yet to explore a lot of features that are present in this solution. However, it would be good if more documentation is available for this solution. This would help us in preparing for the certification exam and understand it better. Currently, we don't have much documentation. We do the labs for 20 or 25 minutes, but we can't capture and download anything.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have started to use it very recently. It has been three-plus months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Based on my experience so far, it has been very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is very scalable. We can add and remove the nodes and other things. We can also add servers and other patches as per the requirement.
We have a team of seven people who are using it currently. We are preparing for our certifications. Very soon, we will get some projects in our company, and at that time, we will use it officially.
How are customer service and technical support?
They are perfect. I would rate them a 100 out of 100. Whenever I have faced an issue, I got full support from their side, irrespective of whether it was a small or big issue. They're really good people, and they helped me a lot. Their support is wonderful.
How was the initial setup?
It was easy to set up.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution. It has a lot of good features. It is easily scalable.
I would rate Google Cloud SQL a ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Google
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
Director at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
Scalable and cost effective solution for data analysis
Pros and Cons
- "Its most valuable feature is that it's scalable. I can start off with a base of a lot of data and move as much as I want and it's the same as if asked to do a lot of infrastructure changes."
- "Google Cloud SQL still needs better connectivity to outside, existing data sources."
What is our primary use case?
I primarily use it for marketing data and marketing analytics.
How has it helped my organization?
This version of Cloud SQL becomes a part of our larger data warehouse, which is just a part that the SQL manages. I work on the visualization part. So I usually already have all my data coming into my dashboard and that's where I get my insights from. I don't dig it out from the SQL.
What is most valuable?
Its most valuable feature is that it's scalable. I can start off with a base of a lot of data and move as much as I want and it's the same as if asked to do a lot of infrastructure changes. I can start a release model experiment on a thousand people, and if that experiment is a success I can run it on a million people, and the whole analysis doesn't require any changes so it's scalable that way. It's much more cost-sensitive. It's not that costly for me to do it.
What needs improvement?
The only room for improvement here is that they need to connect to more existing data sources so that it becomes easier for a layman to get a more realistic understanding of what's happening. They don't put data outside of the cloud storage. If I can query and there is some way for me to ingest it with various query cells, that would be great.
Better connectivity with other marketing tools would be helpful. Right now it's limited in scope relative to the other connectors. So they should build more connectors, making it easier to connect the data.
There's no standalone application that I could just click and start shooting it.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Google Cloud SQL for the last two months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In terms of stability, Google Cloud SQL is very stable. There are stability issues but they get fixed when I'm running it for the smaller experiments or the smallest subset. So whatever code outlier situations exist, we are able to understand that it's a smaller subset and when we scale it back it is not really an issue.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
As I mentioned above in the features section, Google Cloud SQL's scalability is one of its best features.
How are customer service and technical support?
We get very good support from Google. If we have any questions at all we talk to them and they work it out. So it's very good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously used a different solution for our marketing database, but it was very limited in scope. Moving forward, Google Cloud SQL is the only data warehouse I will ever use.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward. Our deployment took around two months.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented it ourselves. We are a consultancy company, so I asked my engineer to build it for us.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The advice I would give before starting up is to have a small interactive introductory session with some domain experts because even though it looks quite similar to MySQL and all the other SQL solutions out there, Google Cloud SQL lets me do a lot more. And it offers a lot of perks if you know how exactly to handle the product. So even if it is with a small, introductory session of two hours or three hours long, where the experts tell me that, "Hey, this is the whole scope of this solution or the product but it will be scaled up," it will help the end-users a lot because the documentation itself is not that extensive.
What other advice do I have?
We have 11 - 12 people working with it - all marketing people.
On a scale from 1 to 10, 1 is the lowest and 10 the highest, I'd give it an 8.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Google
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
IT architect at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Stable product with good technical support services
Pros and Cons
- "The product is scalable."
- "The product's user interface could be more user-friendly to improve the overall user experience."
What is our primary use case?
We use Cloud SQL primarily as a database service and implement it in various systems, such as web systems.
What needs improvement?
The product's user interface could be more user-friendly to improve the overall user experience. In some situations, on-premises solutions offer more flexibility, so further investigation into these areas would be beneficial.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Google Cloud SQL for about four or five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is good overall, but some updates can affect service stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product is scalable. It is more suitable for enterprise companies with specific needs and restrictions.
How are customer service and support?
The customer service and support are good, but the service could be improved for enterprise users who require very short response times.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup process is generally not very complex, although some exceptions can complicate it.
What other advice do I have?
The platform integration with other Google products provides a connected solution. While I recommend Google Cloud SQL, the product choice depends on the specific use case.
I would rate Google Cloud SQL as an eight.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Last updated: Jun 3, 2024
Flag as inappropriateCommercial and Operations Director at SygmaTel, BlaBla Connect, KnowMe Solutions
The pricing, compared to other solutions, was an important factor in choosing this product.
Pros and Cons
- "The setup was straightforward. Just a couple of clicks, and we were done."
- "My suggestion to anyone thinking about this solution is to jump into it head-first!"
- "The most vulnerable problem with Google SQL is that while you can customize your access control list, it provides you with a public IP address."
What is our primary use case?
The primary use case for this solution is real-time communication software, chatting services and a few other different services running on the mobile apps. So, the primary requirement for Google SQL was taking off the management heading.
What is most valuable?
It's all built into the web browser, so any operating system will work. It's easy to manage. They help me take care of the replication data backups and software upgrades, updates and so on. They take care of everything.
I no longer need experts in database management. When I say database management, I don't mean SQL commands and which command is better or which query is better constructed. The database management in terms of memory, configuration, disc space, archiving, back-ups, replication problems, updates and so on. So, I no longer need someone or a team of people sitting around, taking care of my database infrastructure. I only have Google for that.
What needs improvement?
In my opinion the most vulnerable problem with Google SQL is each SQL node is provided with a public IP address. They provide you the option or ability to customize your access control list, but at the end of the day, it's a public IP address.
For how long have I used the solution?
Less than one year.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Quite honestly my usage so far did not test the limits of scalability. I cannot really comment on that one.
How are customer service and technical support?
I have not used technical support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
When we were using the Rackspace, we only used Rackspace virtual machines, for our virtual machine requirements, as well as our own SQL requirements. So, we had virtual machines, hosting SQL databases. And, it didn't really work out in our favor.
How was the initial setup?
It was very straightforward. Just a couple of clicks, and we were done.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is very much an important factor as to why we use this solution.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
When considering other options, we considered AWS, Google Cloud, Ocean and Rackspace UK.
What other advice do I have?
I need to make sure that my data is stored securely, transported securely and accessed securely. And the second thing is the number of options I have. Google Cloud SQL gives us more options.
My suggestion to anyone thinking about this solution is to jump into it head-first!
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Google Cloud Security Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Reliable Solution for Database Management
Pros and Cons
- "The valuable feature of Google Cloud SQL is its high availability option. The product is stable."
- "The customer support should be improved."
What is our primary use case?
We work with the solution for various databases because it's easier to use, integrate with, maintain, and simplify backup.
What is most valuable?
The valuable feature of Google Cloud SQL is its high availability option, allowing for the selection of two backups and two databases. This ensures minimal downtime, adhering to SLAs that guarantee the database will not be down for over a few seconds.
What needs improvement?
The customer support should be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for the past three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable.
How are customer service and support?
The support team responds quickly. However, it takes a long time to fix the issue or to help you with the solution.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is not expensive, especially considering the significant reduction in database management time.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend to experience the value of the solution.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Google
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
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