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This page provides an overview of the storage options available within Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) air-gapped environments. It describes both block storage and object storage, including their characteristics and use cases. By understanding these distinct storage solutions, you'll be able to effectively plan and manage data storage for your critical applications and services in GDC air-gapped deployments.
This page is for audiences such as IT administrators within the infrastructure operator group or developers within the application operator group who are responsible for selecting and managing storage solutions for their organization's projects in GDC air-gapped environments. For more information about the intended audience, see Audiences for GDC air-gapped documentation.
Block storage
GDC offers secure, reliable, durable, and low-latency network-based block storage that virtual machines (VMs) and containers can access like physical disks. Block storage is located independently from GDC VMs and containers, and can be preserved even after the VMs and containers are deleted. Block storage performance scales automatically with size, and can be resized to meet workload performance and space requirements. GDC block storage provides the following price and performance SKUs:
Balanced block storage: Solid-state drive (SSD) block storage that offers balanced performance and cost for general use.
Object storage
Object storage, also known as object-based storage, is a computer data storage architecture designed to handle large amounts of unstructured data. Unlike other architectures, it designates data as distinct units, bundled with metadata and a unique identifier that can be used to locate and access each data unit. GDC object storage is suitable for use-cases like websites, streaming videos, and mobile apps. Data must be stored for at least 30 days.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-29 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eGoogle Distributed Cloud (GDC) air-gapped Storage offers both block and object storage solutions to cater to different data needs.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eBlock storage provides secure, durable, and low-latency network-based storage for VMs and containers, scaling automatically with size and accessible like physical disks.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGDC block storage has a "Balanced" solid-state drive (SSD) tier for a mix of performance and cost.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eObject storage in GDC handles unstructured data, with each data unit bundled with metadata and a unique identifier for easy access, ideal for use cases such as websites and streaming videos.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGDC Object storage requires all data to be stored for at least 30 days.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# Storage overview\n\nThis page provides an overview of the storage options available within Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) air-gapped environments. It describes both block storage and object storage, including their characteristics and use cases. By understanding these distinct storage solutions, you'll be able to effectively plan and manage data storage for your critical applications and services in GDC air-gapped deployments.\n\nThis page is for audiences such as IT administrators within the infrastructure operator group or developers within the application operator group who are responsible for selecting and managing storage solutions for their organization's projects in GDC air-gapped environments. For more information about the intended audience, see [Audiences for GDC air-gapped documentation](/distributed-cloud/hosted/docs/latest/gdch/resources/audiences).\n\nBlock storage\n-------------\n\nGDC offers secure, reliable, durable, and low-latency network-based block storage that virtual machines (VMs) and containers can access like physical disks. Block storage is located independently from GDC VMs and containers, and can be preserved even after the VMs and containers are deleted. Block storage performance scales automatically with size, and can be resized to meet workload performance and space requirements. GDC block storage provides the following price and performance SKUs:\n\n- Balanced block storage: Solid-state drive (SSD) block storage that offers balanced performance and cost for general use.\n\nObject storage\n--------------\n\nObject storage, also known as object-based storage, is a computer data storage architecture designed to handle large amounts of unstructured data. Unlike other architectures, it designates data as distinct units, bundled with metadata and a unique identifier that can be used to locate and access each data unit. GDC object storage is suitable for use-cases like websites, streaming videos, and mobile apps. Data must be stored for at least 30 days."]]
