Google Cloud Storage over Dropbox
Google cloud storage is superior to Dropbox when considered in terms of storage, security or payment flexibility.
Dropbox is often used for collaboration and file sharing purpose, it can be defined as a personal cloud backup service. Whereas Google Cloud Storage is an online file storage web service for storing and accessing data within the Google Cloud Platform. It provides unified object storage for the active or archival of data. It is an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).
Using Dropbox on any PC is just like using any other folder on hard drive, except the files that are dragged into Dropbox folder automatically syncs online and to any other computers or mobile devices linked to the account. All of these clients connect to servers to provide access to files, allow file sharing with others, and update linked devices when files are added, changed, or deleted.
On the contrary, Google Cloud Storage customers access their data through a web browser or command-line interface. Customers can also choose the geographical location in which their data lives. Google Cloud Storage Regional stores data in one geographic location, rather than in j8 spreading it out. It offers 99.9% availability and is best for compute, analytics and machine learning workloads which on the other hand, is unavailable in Dropbox.
The Dropbox Basic plan offers 2GB of space and is free of cost. Free apps can be downloaded to access Dropbox from one’s computer and mobile device. However, with Dropbox, customers have to purchase bulk storage space whereas Google Cloud Storage offers a pay-per-use model.
Google allows flexibility for instant configuration. A number of processors can be customised by users and RAM usage with GCP can be instantly configured. Upfront costs are not required. It is not required to make commitments to get great prices. Google Cloud Platform is on average 60% less for many compute workloads than other clouds, with $0 paid upfront.
GCP is built on a foundation of strong security, using secure hardware infrastructure, storage services, identity services, and network communications, offering a true defense-in-depth architecture. Every workload, communication channel, data element, is captured and monitored by GCP.
Security Issues that have come into the limelight while using Dropbox are critical. Dropbox has the ability to decrypt all the files and whenever it wants, can view them upon the request of any law enforcement agency and they can be listed as below:
Anyone can send a file to the owner of the dropbox, whether they have a Dropbox account or not.
All the files the owner of the dropbox collect are automatically organized into a single Dropbox folder.
Only the owner of the dropbox can view files uploaded by others, unless the owner decides to share them.
On the other hand, Cloud Storage always encrypts the data on the server side, before it is written to disk, at no extra cost. Besides, there are additional ways to encrypt the data when using Cloud Storage. Below is a synopsis of the encryption options available:
Server-side encryption: Before the data is written to disk and stored, encryption occurs after Cloud Storage receives the user’s data.
Customer-supplied encryption keys: User can create and manage their own encryption keys for server-side encryption, which on top of the standard Cloud Storage encryption act as an additional encryption layer.
Customer-managed encryption keys: Using Cloud Key Management Service, the user can generate and manage their encryption keys which on top of the standard Cloud Storage encryption acts as an additional encryption layer.
The Dropbox application is available for Windows, Macintosh and Linux desktop OS.
In Google Cloud Storage objects are stored and grouped into buckets. Containers within the cloud can be separately assigned to storage classes which are known as Buckets in Google Cloud Storage. However, Google Cloud Storage offers four storage classes: Multi-Regional, Regional, Nearline and Coldline.
All classes offer unlimited data, the same tools and APIs for data access, Open Authorization (OAuth) and granular access controls and Google has made security announcements in areas such as VPC service controls, access transparency, Cloud Armor, DLP APIs & so on, keeping the users' data more secure and compliant.
If the pricing is considered as the main factor for a user while choosing a cloud platform, then GCP should be the choice.
