Google Cloud Storage Nearline offers cloud backup for just $0.01 per gigabyte

Cloud storage just got a whole lot cheaper. Starting today, Google is offering Google Cloud Storage Nearline for the insanely low price of $0.01 per gigabyte. You read that correctly; one single, solitary cent for a gigabyte of cloud storage.

This is a service aimed at enterprise customers looking to archive large amounts of data without paying the Earth or compromising on performance too much. Nearline is a service designed for data which does not need to be accessed all that often, but when the need arises, there's a response time of under 3 seconds.

Performance may not be on a par with Google's regular cloud storage but while it is perhaps best suited for backups and archiving, it could also be used for certain types of apps where speed is not of the utmost importance. Google Cloud Storage Nearline sits as a halfway house between traditional cloud storage and offline, cold storage, and Google points out that integration with other Google Cloud Storage services means that the package provides a consistent means of accessing data.

Google has teamed up with a number of partners -- including Iron Mountain, NetApp and Symantec -- so Nearline can be accessed through other services. When NetBackup hits version 7.7, Nearline will be supported, while SteelStore is due to gain support in the second half of the year. Introducing Google Cloud Storage Nearline, Avtandil Garakanidze said:

With Google Cloud Storage Nearline, you can now benefit from a very low-cost, highly-durable storage that can be used to store limitless amounts of data and have access to that data at any time. Our primary focus is to help you bring new use cases to life, and this is why we’ve worked with some of the leading backup and storage providers and are focused on growing this ecosystem. We look forward to seeing the great, innovative ways you’ll use this distinctive new storage option.