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reviewer973497 - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Provides limited storage for free
Pros and Cons
  • "I have more than enough personal storage and have had no security issues."
  • "This solution could be improved by increasing integration with other tools, like Microsoft."

What is our primary use case?

My primary use case is to meet my personal storage needs. I don't use it much because, for free, it provides a limited amount of storage. 

What is most valuable?

I have more than enough personal storage and have had no security issues. 

What needs improvement?

This solution could be improved by increasing integration with other tools, like Microsoft. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Google Cloud Storage since it first became available to users. 

Buyer's Guide
Google Cloud Storage
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Google Cloud Storage. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Google Cloud is stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I'm not aware of any scalability challenges because I'm using the private version. 

How are customer service and support?

I have never contacted Google's technical support. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I also use OneDrive from Microsoft. 

How was the initial setup?

Since this is a cloud-based solution, there is no installation. 

What about the implementation team?

I implemented myself. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It provides a very limited amount of storage because it's free. 

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Google Cloud a nine out of ten. I would recommend this because I have more than enough personal storage and there are no security issues that I'm aware of. 

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.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1712268 - PeerSpot reviewer
Program Administrator at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Effective background operation, free to use, and stable
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution operates in the background and it is attached to my Gmail account. When I download files to my phone, such as pictures, they automatically go to Google Cloud Storage."

    What is our primary use case?

    Whenever we take pictures on the mobile, it sends the file to Google Cloud Storage since it's linked to the Gmail account. 

    What is most valuable?

    The solution operates in the background and it is attached to my Gmail account. When I download files to my phone, such as pictures, they automatically go to Google Cloud Storage. 

    I have been able to retrieve files I have stored on Google Cloud Storage from ten years ago.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using Google Cloud Storage for approximately two years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The solution is stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    If you are using Android and a Gmail account Google Cloud Storage is used by default. Many people are using this service and might not know.

    How are customer service and support?

    I have not had an issue contacting support.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The solution is free unless you want to increase the GB data allowance. There is a cost if you want to increase the size of storage space which is expensive.

    What other advice do I have?

    When I use the solution I do not check it to see if it is backing up my information. However, I have retrieved files from it from years ago.

    I would recommend this solution to others.

    I rate Google Cloud Storage a nine 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.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Google Cloud Storage
    November 2024
    Learn what your peers think about Google Cloud Storage. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
    816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Jan COETZEE - PeerSpot reviewer
    Managing Director at Headway Consulting
    Real User
    Top 10
    An easily scalable solution that enables us to access our data anywhere, anytime
    Pros and Cons
    • "The feature we've found most valuable is the ability to access our data anywhere, anytime."
    • "User management could be better. It's complicated process to delete users and maintain the structure of documents created by deleted users."

    What is our primary use case?

    We primarily use the solution for sharing and storing our corporate data.

    What is most valuable?

    The feature we've found most valuable is the ability to access our data anywhere, anytime.

    The security on the solution is perfect and the integration with email and email hosting is great.

    What needs improvement?

    User management could be better. It's a complicated process to delete users and maintain the structure of documents created by deleted users.

    The solution needs backup and archival functionality. We had an instance where our account renewal was not done in time and we lost information. Archival and backup can be expanded upon, by providing archival/backup services within the google cloud solution. It would save us from using a third party for our cloud backup, which is what we are currently doing.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been using the solution for five years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The solution is very, very stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The solution is very scalable. We've had to increase our storage crate and it was very straightforward. On average we have about 10 users. We're a growing organization, and we intend to increase the number in the future.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    We're satisfied with technical support. We've had the opportunity to use the technical forum and to request their support. They were very responsive to our needs.

    How was the initial setup?

    The solution's setup is straightforward. Initially, there were some issues with synchronization and so on but I think they are continually improving, so it's getting better and better.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The price is fair. Even when you compare it to the competition, I'd say the value we get for every dollar we spend is very good.

    They have different costs and options for scalability and functionality. We started off with the free edition and then we went for the corporate edition and the business edition, and we've since increased. They have lots of options for various types of users.

    What other advice do I have?

    We are using the public cloud deployment model.

    I would rate the solution nine out of ten. We are very happy with the services that we are getting. We've been using it for 5 years and apart from the backup issue, we use it every day and we've really got no issues.

    I would definitely recommend it to any business if they're looking at taking their business into a more agile environment, or if they are scaling or reducing costs. There's definitely a lot of routes to reduce cost, and to reduce the risk of having your own infrastructure that you need to protect, and need to manage. It also reduces the complexity of the management of data storage.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    it_user1094874 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Senior Consultant at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
    Consultant
    Good features and performance and is really easy to use
    Pros and Cons
    • "Their technical support is good and very professional."
    • "They need to get some parts of the program more mature, like the admin management part as well as the monitoring part."

    What is our primary use case?

    Our primary use case for this solution is that we are implementing a software for a insurance company, and everything is implemented and running on the Google Cloud Platform, like the database and the cloud engine. 

    How has it helped my organization?

    When we first started using Google Cloud Storage, our developemnt team was not very experienced with any form of cloud, and I must say that it was really easy to adapt the way of working with the cloud and the flexibility that Google Cloud provides. So I can say that the solution meets our requirements.

    What is most valuable?

    What I like most about this solution, is the scalability and performance.

    What needs improvement?

    I would like to see an improvement in the management or admin pages, because at times it is not easy to work with them. Also, I like an improvement in the IAM part of the Google Cloud . They need to get some parts of the program more mature, like the admin pages  as well as the monitoring part.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been using this solution for a year now.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The stability of the solution is impressive. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    We have never experienced any problems with scaling or performance of the system. It is an internal application used by about 80 of our employees. We do plan to increase usage.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    Their technical support is good and very professional.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    I have worked with Amazon Web Service because it is easy to work on, but it all depends on the customer charge.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup was very straightforward. We did have some minor problems, but we got support from Google directly. We used Google's technical support team. Since then deployment has been an ongoing process with us. 

    What about the implementation team?

    We are solution partners for this vendor.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We did evaluate other options before choosing Google Cloud Storage, like Amazon Web Service and Microsoft Azure

    What other advice do I have?

    My advice to others would be to do a good assessment of the solution related to IT communication with the Google Cloud. It can all be very confusing at first, so it is really important to work in collaboration with Google. After that is will be very easy to work on. I will rate this solution an eight out of ten.

    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner.
    PeerSpot user
    Digital transformation director at Medmark
    Real User
    Easy to use, scalable, but could be more user-friendly
    Pros and Cons
    • "The most valuable feature of Google Cloud Storage is its ease of use. It fits well with our business use."
    • "Google Cloud Storage could improve by being more user-friendly."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use Google Cloud Storage when we are not able to put all of our data in emails because of the file size.

    What is most valuable?

    The most valuable feature of Google Cloud Storage is its ease of use. It fits well with our business use.

    What needs improvement?

    Google Cloud Storage could improve by being more user-friendly.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using Google Cloud Storage for approximately five years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Google Cloud Storage is stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The scalability of Google Cloud Storage is good.

    We have four or five people in my company using this solution.

    How are customer service and support?

    I have not needed to contact support from Google Cloud Storage.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    There is no license to use Google Cloud Storage. 

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate Google Cloud Storage a seven 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.
    PeerSpot user
    reviewer1597890 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Chief Security Officer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
    Real User
    Top 10
    Allows us to run web services but should include lower tier pricing for lower capacity
    Pros and Cons
    • "We are mostly doing telephony and generic web services in the telephony."
    • "A lower cost, lower-end solution for a shared file system is missing."

    What is our primary use case?

    We're using Google Cloud Storage to run web services.

    It's a cloud-based solution, so we are using Google Cloud and other clouds as well.

    There are between 50 and 100 people using this solution in my organization.

    What is most valuable?

    We are mostly doing telephony and generic web services in the telephony.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using this solution for about one year.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    So far, we don't have extensive production experience with Google Cloud because we run our current production on our own hardware, which is based on the XCP-ng cluster, so I cannot comment on Google Cloud's stability in real production scenarios.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    We are mostly using Kubernetes for scalability.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    A lower cost, lower-end solution for a shared file system is missing. If you want a shared file system, you have to buy a server with the minimum capacity of one TB.

    I would like to see a lower tier and better pricing for the capacity.

    Even if it's not the price, I would like there to be an option to have less capacity for less money so that you could deploy a server that doesn't have a TB capacity,  like 100 GB for a fraction of the price. That would definitely help because for the various trial projects, that's a bit too much.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We use an open source solution called SAS. We're happy with it and use other services and the storage services like in AWS, but the usage is kind of marginal.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would rate this solution 7 out of 10.

    I would recommend this solution for those who want to start using it.

    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.
    PeerSpot user
    Islam Bayraktar - PeerSpot reviewer
    Co-Founder and Director of Services at Continuous Software at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
    Real User
    Top 10
    Enables you to access your files anywhere
    Pros and Cons
    • "Access your files from anywhere, no installation necessary"
    • "Additional cost for more storage"

    What is our primary use case?

    The primary use case is to store documents in various formats, enabling me to access them anywhere.

    What is most valuable?

    We have found synchronization to be a really useful feature. We synchronize documents from a personal machine to Google Cloud Storage, and in addition we make use of Google docs where we can easily create Word documents, Excel spreadsheets or even Powerpoint. Then it is really easy to access documents from anywhere.

    What needs improvement?

    It would be beneficial to manage duplicated documents better. For example, when conducting a search, it would be useful to indicate when files are the same or duplicate. You could have the same files in different folders and therefore if you are given a choice to decide what to do, that would be a nice feature. You could either delete or merge them. 

    Also, it would be nice to have the possibility to convert video files that you have stored, compress them and store them in different formats. If I had a huge 3-5GB video file and I had the option to convert this to MP3 and compress it that would greatly reduce the file size that is being stored in the cloud.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using Google Cloud Storage for approximately 2 years

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Regarding scalability, from a users point of view you are not installing anything on your machine. Scalability is not visible to me as an end user.

    How are customer service and support?

    There has been no need to contact Google for any form of support, I have faced no issues to date. 

    How was the initial setup?

    There is no initial installation to setup, as it's cloud based storage all you need is a web browser and you can upload and download files right away. 

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The free subscription with Google Cloud Storage provides a lower amount of GB storage, if you want to upgrade to more you have to pay an annual subscription. 

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We looked at OneDrive and DropBox as alternative solutions. 

    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.
    PeerSpot user
    reviewer1297545 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Consultant IBM Maximo at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
    Real User
    User-friendly, flexible, and stable
    Pros and Cons
    • "The solution is flexible and very user-friendly."
    • "The solution should improve its security and accountability."

    What is our primary use case?

    I primarily use the solution for personal storage of documents, etc.

    What is most valuable?

    Everything about the solution is excellent. It's very fluid.

    The solution is flexible and very user-friendly.

    The drag and drop functionality is very good.

    What needs improvement?

    I'm not sure if there are any improvements necessary. For my purposes, it works very well.

    The solution should improve its security and accountability.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using the solution since about 2010 or 2011. It's been almost a decade.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The solution is highly stable. I've never faced any issues accessing it. It's never crashed and I've never seen bugs or glitches.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The solution allows for one terabyte of data. In terms of personal use, that is quite enough for me. I don't need more than that. I don't think I will need to scale in the future.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    I didn't previously use another cloud storage solution. Google Cloud Storage was my first platform.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is very straightforward. It's already set up when you sign up for your email account. There's absolutely nothing a person needs to do. You just drag and drop in files and that's it.

    What about the implementation team?

    I handled everything myself. I did not need the assistance of a consultant or integrator.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The solution is free to use and comes with one terabyte of free memory. If you need more than that, you may have to pay.

    What other advice do I have?

    Due to its general user-friendliness, I'd rate the solution nine out of ten overall.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Private Cloud
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free Google Cloud Storage Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
    Updated: November 2024
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free Google Cloud Storage Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.