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A research institution needs to store vast amounts of scientific data, including raw sensor readings and experimental results, which can reach hundreds of petabytes. This data is infrequently accessed, but when it is, it needs to be available for analysis, although immediate retrieval is not critical. They prioritize extreme cost-effectiveness for storage. Which Google Cloud storage product is the most appropriate for this scenario?
- ACloud Bigtable
- BCloud Storage (Archive)
- CCloud SQL
- DCloud Storage (Standard)
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Cloud Storage (Archive)
Cloud Storage with the Archive class is designed for long-term archiving of data that is accessed very infrequently (less than once a year). It offers the lowest storage costs among all Cloud Storage classes, making it ideal for hundreds of petabytes of scientific data with flexible retrieval times and extreme cost-effectiveness.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Cloud Bigtable is a NoSQL database for high-throughput operational workloads, not cost-effective long-term archiving of raw data.
- C. Cloud SQL is a relational database, unsuitable for storing raw, unstructured scientific data at petabyte scale.
- D. Cloud Storage Standard is for frequently accessed data and would be significantly more expensive for hundreds of petabytes of infrequently accessed data.
Cloud Storage Archive Class
The lowest-cost storage class within Google Cloud Storage, optimized for long-term archiving of data that is accessed less than once a year. It has the highest retrieval costs and latency.
- Lowest storage cost per GB.
- Highest data retrieval cost and latency (minutes to hours).
- Ideal for compliance, backup, and long-term archiving.
- Data available for analysis when needed, with flexible retrieval.
Memory trick: Storage costs: Match access to save your assets!