Google Cloud Platform

Comentarios: The most direct and consistent way I have been interacting with Google Cloud Platform was when I took the course "Google IT Support Professional Certificate". This course frequently makes use of GCP to explain real-life situations and I learnt a ton thanks to the doors that GCP open for you. It is possible to set up modified instances, which makes it a perfect learning platform for many different backgrounds in technology, including topics such as technical support, data analysis, data visualization, machine learning, security, etc. I have benefited tremendously from its many features and I expect to solve more complex problems in the near future with new skills under my belt. I loved how simple it was to set up instances, get them running, working with them for a while and then how they can easily be discarded or modified on the fly.

Puntos a favor: In the context of education, Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is wonderfully accessible, powerful and useful. Connecting to virtual instances is simple when deploying both Linux and Windows. The instances can be accessed through SSH and there is even a Chrome extension (Chrome RDP) that facilitates connections to Windows under any operating system in use. The platform is extremely well integrated with courses that the same company offers as part of their MOOCs. Instances are responsive and allow to really dig deep without the fear of breaking anything for real. They each get their own IP address accessible publicly so it is a breeze to launch background services and servers inside an instance and test functionality from the outside world. I am not personally familiar with all the tools available, but I know I can count on the platform to support any future development I might do with big data and machine learning. Because Google also offers open source libraries such as TensorFlow which are an integral part of the platform, I know I will not be limited with scalability issues anytime soon when relying on this service.

Contras: Like any software of comparable complexity, the hardest part is always getting started, because everything feels so overwhelming. When opening the dashboard for the first time, you can click on the menu to access an impressive long list of available products. Since there are so many aspects to learn, I would find it very useful to have a shortcut next to each item that goes directly to the most relevant documentation page on the subject. I have also been annoyed once or twice in a MOOC connected to a virtual instance on Google Cloud Platform when I was informed that the instance was ready but in reality I would still need to wait longer for all tools to be properly loaded, hence some confusion was generated from the fact that I would have to close and re-open the instance to see a new file appear or something similar. I wish the communication between GCP and the information available from a course connected to the platform could be more accurate. Knowing this little pitfall and knowing there is a very good documentation available with many tutorials does help to get pass those initial hurdles.

Comentarios: Google Drive has an amazing value if you are looking for a free cloud storage option. It also has good prices if you wan't more than 15gb of storage. It directly integrates with all of Google's other applications such as Google Docs and Google Sheets. It usually syncs pretty good between multiple computers (Mac or Windows). However, if you are using the new Google file stream I'd recommend only using on Windows. Dropbox may be a tad bit more user-friendly and maybe it has a little bit more connections with other apps because it was the first company to kind of offer these cloud-based. Storage Solutions. I would say that Google Drive is better than Dropbox if use Google Drive applications such as Google Docs and sheets.

Puntos a favor: -Free Account: Google Drive is one of the best value cloud storage options. If you are looking to get a free cloud storage software suite right off the bat you get 15GB of free storage. This is much higher than the competitor freemium accounts like Dropbox and others where you only get 2GB of storage for free. -Useful Suite of Tools: One of the best parts about Google Drive is that it integrates directly with other Google apps such as Google Sheets and Google Docs. These are probably the most commonly used apps within the Google suite and it fits perfectly well within your google drive workflow. Not only that if you download the desktop client for Mac or Windows you are able to download and sync all the files that are on your google drive account. This allows you to easily open the Google Sheets and Google Docs files like they were native files on your desktop system. Once you click on a google sheets or Google docs file, it will open up a browser and take you right to that file within your browser. Google Docs Add-ons: This is extremely convenient and much better workflow than any other competitor, even though Dropbox came out with their own word document editor recently. The Google Docs workflow is better than any other competitor as of yet. And beyond that, there is a huge amount of Google Docs add-ons that you can add other companies will make certain extensions that you can expand the functionality of Google Docs and Google Sheets.

Contras: Not as Mac Friendly: With Google Drive to sync to a mac desktop, you need to have the storage available. Well guess what? Apple has been making the storage smaller and smaller (SSD Drives). For example, if you have 100 gigabytes of data and files on Google Drive you will need to be able to have 100 gigabytes free space on your computer. However, if you get the Google file stream this now will allow you to save space on your drive by only downloading it when you need it (on demand). So it will show the file is there but won't take up space. This is how I envisioned computing years ago, and it's finally here!! Wait, nope its not, not for mac users. As far as I have tested on the Mac operating system is not usable. The main issue is it slows down the mac like crazy and uses up a TON of recourses for some reason. I don't know if its because there is a clash between mac finder indexing and this software, or what. I had to uninstall it because it slowed down my 2016, top of the line MacBook pro. So if you're looking into getting Google Drive I would recommend the regular backup and sync utility if you are using Mac (opt for regular google drive storage rather than the google suite for businesses, which comes with the google file stream.) It may be completely different on Windows but as far as Mac is not ready for production it completely slows down my Mac and will use up way t When the day comes that Google makes File stream more compatible with Mac OSX, it will be AMAZING.