Difference Between Google Cloud and Google Drive

Google Cloud Storage is a developer service provided by Google that allows you to save and manipulate data directly on the Google’s own infrastructure. With Google Cloud Storage you can upload/download a file, delete a file, obtain a list of files, or obtain the size of a given file. Google Drive, on the other hand, is used for storing personal files and it’s free up to 15 GB across all your different personal services offered by Google. But compared to Google Cloud Storage, there is no data compression or data encryption. Plus, there are no advanced management features and no data organization management through buckets and no advanced storage tiers like Google Cloud Storage. We break down some key points comparing the two Google services on different grounds.

What is Google Cloud?

Google Cloud Platform is a suite of public cloud computing services offered by Google to write, build, and deploy cloud-hosted applications. These public clouds offer many new and exciting ways to bring applications to end users like us. They offer developers the ability to dedicate more time to solving the actual problems at hand by leveraging managed services. Google Cloud Platform is the product of decades-long experience running some of the largest and most successful web services in history. It uses the same infrastructure Google uses internally, and reliability and security are some of the primary qualities deeply integrated into GCP’s underlying infrastructure. Google Cloud Storage is Google’s online file storage service for storing data in the cloud by using its own infrastructure.

What is Google Drive?

Google Drive is a popular, free cloud storage solution for file storage and synchronization developed by Google. It is one of the most trusted cloud storage providers today built on the top of Google Cloud storage. Google Drive is Google’s SaaS offerings for general users to store file. It provides the capability and convenience of storing and accessing files anywhere and anytime using the cloud technology. Users can access their stored data from anywhere and share it effortlessly with other Google Drive users. It also offers access to free web-based applications for creating documents and spreadsheets. It acts as the default storage for Gmail or Google Docs and provides easy and convenient transfer of data from your personal computer to the cloud. It efficiently integrates with other Google services.

Difference between Google Cloud and Google Drive

Basics of Google Cloud and Drive

Google Cloud Storage is the online file storage service by Google for storing data in the cloud by using its own infrastructure. Google released the developer preview of Google Storage for Developers in 2010, which went on to be released in 2011 but under a new name, Google Cloud Storage (GCS).

Google Drive, on the other hand, is a popular, free cloud storage solution for file storage and synchronization developed by Google. It is Google’s SaaS offerings for general users to store file. Google’s cloud storage space is called Google Drive.

Storage in Google Cloud vs. Drive

Google Cloud Storage is a general purpose storage platform for unstructured data and the platform itself provides some structure to how that data is organized. It is an enterprise public cloud storage platform that offers four distinct storage classes – Regional Storage, Multi-Regional Storage, Nearline Storage, and Coldline Storage.

Google Drive, on the other hand, is a personal cloud storage service built for the users of “G Suite” to enable them for storing data in cloud seamlessly so that users can access their stored data from anywhere and share it other Google Drive users.

Pricing of Google Cloud vs. Drive

The pricing model of Google Cloud Storage is based on four distinct storage classes – Regional Storage, Multi-Regional Storage, Nearline Storage, and Coldline Storage. While all storage classe provide a very similar experience in most aspects, they differ in price. The Coldline offers the lowest price per month compared to other three classes, at $0.04 – $0.014 per GB per month. Google charges $0.01 – $0.02 per GB/month for Nearline, $0.02 – $0.035 per GB/month for Regional, and $0.026 – $0.036 per GB/month for Multi-Regional storage.

Google Drive, on the other hand, is free for the first 15 GB of storage, but costs $1.99 per month for 100 GB of storage, which was a considerable change from the previous $4.99 per month. Additionally, you get a terabyte of online storage at only $9.99 a month, down from $49.99. If you need more data, you can go for the 10 TB storage option for $99.99 per month.

Google Cloud vs. Google Drive: Comparison Chart

Summary of Google Cloud vs. Drive

In a nutshell, Google Cloud Storage is Google’s online file storage service for storing data in the cloud by using its own infrastructure. It is a general purpose storage platform for the small and medium businesses looking for a more secure and functional storage solution. Google Drive, on the other hand, is more like a personal cloud storage service for general users looking for storing data in the cloud. While Google Drive is a little pricey, Google Cloud Storage is more flexible as you only pay for what you use, thanks to the four distinct storage classes. Additionally, Google Cloud Storage also supports versioning meaning users can retrieve the deleted versions or objects that are deleted or overwritten.

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