NetApp and Google Cloud Launch Managed Storage Service to Transform Enterprise Workloads in the Cloud
Google Cloud NetApp Volumes is the new name for the NetApp fully managed Cloud Volumes Service for Google Cloud. Google has taken over as the primary provider and manager of the service. It is a native GCP service based on NetApp’s ONTAP operating system and its file-based data functions. It supports multi-access protocols such as NFS V3 and v4.1, as well as SMB, and has features like snapshots, clones, replication, and cross-region backup. It is the only Google storage service that supports both NFS and SMB.
According to Sameet Agarwal, VP and GM for Google Cloud Storage, this announcement extends their ability to deliver first-party storage and enterprise data management services. This will enable organizations to deploy, run, protect, and scale enterprise workloads with the familiar tools and interface of Google Cloud .
NetApp has been offering its ONTAP services on GCP since 2018, which is a comprehensive cross-cloud and on-premises file storage system that covers AWS, Azure, and Google . Customers who have NetApp systems in their datacenters can use AWS, Azure, and GCP datacenters as extensions of their own for tiering, bursting, business continuity, disaster recovery, migration, etc. .
Customers can run either Windows or Linux applications as virtual machines with ease and without any refactoring . Storage volumes can scale from 100GiB to 100TiB . There is support for instant capacity additions or changes between performance tiers without downtime . Built-in block-level incremental backups provide protection without needing downtime or slowing app performance .
According to NetApp, being a Google Cloud first-party service means that its customers can enjoy a more streamlined and integrated operational experience. The following are some of the benefits of this service:
- Full integration with Google Cloud Console, APIs, and gcloud CLI management.
- Full integration with Google Cloud billing, which eliminates the need for marketplace hoops and provides full-fledged burndown of the Google Cloud Committed Use Discounts (CUD) since this is a first-party offering.
- Improved integration in IAM, Cloud Monitoring, and Cloud Logging for better resiliency.
- Simplified UI, structured around user workflows in the Google Cloud ‘look and feel’.
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- Simplified and improved documentation, along with the Feedback button to send recommendations directly to Google Cloud.
- Administrative volume and service actions.
- SOC2 Trust Service Criteria – Type 1 compliant service operations and controls, inherited from Google Cloud.
- Service Level Agreement of 99.95 percent for data plane without CRR (Cross-Region Replication) and 99.99 percent with CRR.
These features are designed to provide customers with a more seamless experience while using NetApp's services on Google Cloud .
NetApp has announced that it will be collaborating with Google Cloud to develop a feature roadmap and deeper integration with the array of Google Cloud services such as GCVE, GKE, etc12. For more information, you can read the Google blog and online NetApp documentation.