Google Cloud Platform is gaining Cloud Filestore to offer a file system interface to users

Google has announced a new storage option for developers using Google Cloud Platform. The new Cloud Filestore is due to launch in beta next month, and it provides a managed NAS in the cloud.

Google describes Cloud Filestore as a "managed file storage for applications that require a file system interface and a shared file system", and the aim is to offer higher performance to users that need it than the existing options do.

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The service is particularly aimed at users who need to create, read and write large files with low latency, and Google specifically mentions creative industries such as film studios and production shops. The company says: "Cloud Filestore is a managed file storage service for applications that require a filesystem interface and a shared filesystem for data. Filestore gives users a simple, native experience for standing up managed Network Attached Storage (NAS) with their Google Compute Engine and Kubernetes Engine instances. The ability to fine-tune Filestore's performance and capacity independently leads to predictably fast performance for your file-based workloads."

Google suggests a number of benefits offered by the new storage option:

Fast

Cloud Filestore offers low latency for file operations. For workloads that are latency sensitive, like content management systems, databases, random i/o, or other metadata intensive applications, Filestore provides high IOPS with minimal variability in performance.

Consistent

With Cloud Filestore, you pay a predictable price for predictable performance. Users independently pick the IOPS and the storage capacity you need with Filestore, which enables you to tune your filesystem for a particular workload. The performance you experience for a particular workload will be consistent over time.

Simple

Cloud Filestore is a fully managed, NoOps service that is integrated with the rest of the Google Cloud portfolio. You can easily mount Filestore volumes on Compute Engine VMs. Filestore is also tightly integrated with Google Kubernetes Engine so your containers can reference the same shared data.

There are two performance tiers available:

Google hasn't said how long the beta program will run, but you can find out more and sign up for the beta over on the Cloud Filestore page.