Google Compute Engine

Score8.8 out of 10

204 Reviews and Ratings

What is Google Compute Engine?

Google Compute Engine is an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) product from Google Cloud. It provides virtual machines with carbon-neutral infrastructure which run on the same data centers that Google itself uses.

Categories & Use Cases

Infrastructure-as-a-Service

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With thousands of applications, each with different requirements, which VM is right for you?

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Migration Center is Google Cloud's unified migration platform with features like cloud spend estimation, asset discovery, and a variety of tooling for different migration scenarios.

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Screenshot of How to choose the right VM With thousands of applications, each with different requirements, which VM is right for you?

Pre-configured templates
Pre-defined templates for virtual machines
Category average: 8
Pre-defined machine images
Range of different server configurations available
Category average: 8.4
Elastic load balancing
Automatic balancing and distribution of resources across multiple virtual computers
Category average: 9

Dynamic scaling
Ease of scaling up or down in response to customer needs
Category average: 8.7
Automation
Automation of administrative tasks
Category average: 7.7
Monitoring tools
Monitoring tools provide alerts when problems are detected
Category average: 7.6

Most Frequent Users

Top 3 industries using Google Compute Engine.

Based on HG Insights installation data

View all Reviews

#1 most frequent

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

5.9%

129,636 installations of 2,214,394

#2 most frequent

Manufacturing

2.8%

61,032 installations of 2,214,394

#3 most frequent

Other Services (except Public Administration)

2.1%

47,150 installations of 2,214,394

Pros

Reliable and customizable virtual machine environments.
High VM performance with low-latency networking.
Extensive instance customization options and fast provisioning.

Cons

Challenging user interface with a steep learning curve.
Complex initial setup and ongoing management.
Issues with pricing transparency and intricate cost management.

Marcos Vinícius Costa de Carvalho View profile

Business Analyst in Information Technology at ACE Ventures (51-200 employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Google Compute Engine to run virtual machines that host our internal applications. As we don't have on-prem servers, we need a cloud structure to host our developed applications and the open source ones. We basically use cloud VMs and some their underlying network infra structure, leveraging the IAM policies to adequately provide access to our team members.

Pros

Reliable virtual machines
Low network latencies
committed use discounts

Cons

Some random network disconnections
Never could get to configure the machine monitoring properly
It has too many options in different menus, feels somewhat overwhelming

Return on Investment

GCE made our company's opensource stack be possible, significantly reducing other SaaS costs
Optimized cloud costs with the committed discounts
Allowed us to take control of the scale of each application without impacting user experience and improved user satisfaction

Other Software Used

Gemini, ChatGPT, Anthropic Claude

Verified User

Project Manager in Information Technology (11-50 employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Google Compute Engine (GCE) as an Infrastructure as a Service to run some medium-scale workloads of the application. We also use it to run web servers for internal usage. It is very convenient to create, deploy and scale instances based on the demand and it integrates very well with other cloud services.

Pros

zero downtime maintenance
great global load balancing
automatic discounts

Cons

very complex pricing
learning curve
difficult user interface (lot of options)

Return on Investment

positive: reduced costs + budget alerts
negative: initial migration because the app was not optimized for the cloud

Alternatives Considered

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and Microsoft Azure

Other Software Used

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), Firebase, Couchbase Server

Verified User

Consultant in Information Technology (10,001+ employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

In our organization we use Google Compute Engine to host our multiple internal applications. It helped to solve the infra scalability, resource management, optimizing operational cost.

Pros

Low latency Network
Flexible billing option
VM customization
Auto scaling

Cons

Third party compatibility
Support documentations should be simple
VM is slow during startup
Hybrid cloud setup is complex

Return on Investment

Reduced operational cost
Increased deployment efficiency
Eliminated on prim dependency
Scalability

Alternatives Considered

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and Azure Virtual Machines

Other Software Used

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), Azure Virtual Machines

Marcos Vincius Costa de Carvalho View profile

Business Analytics Analist in Information Technology at ACE (51-200 employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use Google Compute Engine to run the virtual machines that power our entire business, from our public apps to our internal databases. It solves the fundamental problems of infrastrucure cost, reliability and scalability

Pros

Variablity of machine types
Instance provisioning Speed
Seamless ecosystem integration
Fair billing

Cons

Steep learning curve in the UI
Cost forecasting and Management
Default Resource Quotas and increase process

Return on Investment

Reduced costs over AWS and Azure
Financially Enabled us to host our own Applications
Direct Reduction in Monthly Compute Costs

Alternatives Considered

Azure Virtual Machines

Other Software Used

Pipedrive, n8n

ISIDRO MORAN View profile

Director, Engineering in Engineering at Vistadash (51-200 employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Our entire server infrastructure runs on Google Compute Engine. This includes web, authentication and CI/CD servers (Jenkins). We can easily scale by deploying virtual instances as needed with just a few clicks. Tasks such as backup and monitoring are handled automatically, allowing our team to stay lean and focus on our main subject matter.

Pros

Instance deployment
Backup and Recovery
Alerts and monitoring

Cons

OS upgrades
Resource allocation
Disk management

Return on Investment

Zero infrastructure headcount
Low to none support associated costs
Accurate cost forecast

Alternatives Considered

Google Cloud SQL, Google Cloud Storage, Google Cloud Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) and Google Cloud Deployment Manager

Other Software Used

Atlassian Bitbucket, Atlassian Jira, Jenkins

Amazon Web Services

Microsoft Azure

Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service)

Google Compute Engine

What is Google Compute Engine?

Categories & Use Cases

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