Google Cloud Platform Console provides a web-based, graphical user interface that one can use to manage their Google Cloud projects and resources. When you use the Cloud Console, you create a new project, or choose an existing project, and use the resources that you create in the context of that project.
In this post, we will cover the GCP Console, and provide a walkthrough for those wishing to start learning or working on the same.
Google Cloud Certification helps you build credibility and confidence by validating your cloud skills with industry-recognized credentials. Know more about Google Associate Cloud Engineer certification; why to get certified, and what topics the certification includes.
Google Cloud Platform Console Components
The GCP Console can be accessed via the GCP Console homepage. If you are new to Google Cloud, then first sign-up for a Google Cloud free trial account.
Read the blog to create your first Google Cloud Free-Trial Account.
After logging in with your Google credentials, you will be redirected to the Console homepage.
1.) Home
The HOME tab has info about active resources and billing information.
There are 3 other tabs available; viz Dashboard, Activity, and Recommendations.
2.) Dashboard
After the first use, the Dashboard is set as the default landing page when you open the GCP Console. The dashboard shows the information about the currently active project that the user is working on, and also updates on various parameters like APIs, Resources, Instances, Billing, etc.
3.) Activity & Recommendations
The Activity tab shows a history of all actions performed by the user on the GCP console. This includes things like making or deleting an instance, creating a new project, deploying/editing/deleting a new cluster, or setting up a new Virtual Machine (VM).
The Recommendations tab houses suggestions from Google’s side, to further improve the user experience, based on their work pattern on the Google Cloud Platform.
Toolbar
The Google Cloud Platform features a toolbar at the top, which has easy access buttons to access notifications, settings, and other such utilities.
1.) Search
To start off, there is a horizontal search bar in the middle of the toolbar to help look for any service in the GCP Console.
2.) Cloud Shell
The Activate Cloud Shell button opens up a small window at the bottom of the screen, from where the user can enter commands to interact with the GCP environment via CLI
3.) Help
The Help button shows up the various available help options, like the Documentation links, keyboard shortcuts, opening the Support center, etc
4.) Notifications
The notifications for all tasks performed on GCP Console can be found here. These include the creation or deletion of a VM, instance, cluster, or any other entity.
5.) Settings
This button allows the user to set their preferences, and edit project settings
![GCP Settings Button]()
Navigation Menu
Navigation MenuThe Navigation Menu has quick links to all major services offered by the Google Cloud Platform. Apart from the HOME section discussed above, there are other shortcuts like MarketPlace, Billing, Support, Security, etc. There is a feature called “Getting Started”, which contains all functions that a new user might need. It can be accessed as follows
This will lead you to the Getting Started page, which has the following options ready as quick access.
One can also pin certain services for easier access, by clicking on the pin button next to their name.
Read more about Google Cloud Services and Tools in our blog.
1.) Compute Products
The Google Compute Engine is a customizable and secure compute service that lets one create, run and manage virtual machines on the Google Cloud. One can create templates for easy access for the future, and save their preferences there.
Apart from the Compute Engine, the Compute Products tab also has other compute options such as Kubernetes Engine, Google App Engine, Cloud Run, and Google Cloud Functions.
2.) Storage and Database Products
Google Cloud Storage is one of the most popular storage services on the market now. The Cloud Storage offered under GCP is a direct equivalent of Amazon’s S3 service. Amongst the top 3 cloud service providers, Google Cloud storage is also the most cost-effective option ($/GB).
In addition to storage services, GCP also has several DataBase services. These include CloudSQL, Cloud Firestore, and Cloud Spanner – each customized according to the needs of the user with respect to size.
Know more about them in our blog Google Cloud storage And Database Services.
3.) Other Services
Furthermore, GCP has services spanning a lot of other areas as well. These can be listed as follows.
APIs and ML: APIs are Application Programming Interfaces that allow communication with Google Services and their integration with other services. The Machine Learning API is one of the more popular APIs available. The services offered under this are:
- Maps Platform
- Cloud Translation
- Cloud Speech to Text
Networking: This has options that allow the user to edit and customize the various aspects of the networking – like IP Address selection, routing, firewalls, VPC networks, etc. The following services fall under this category:
- Google Cloud Load Balancing
- Cloud DNS
- Cloud VPN
Big Data: The services available under this title allow for easy management of data that is too big to be handled manually. Google offers a management system, along with real-time analytics and data insights to help the user or organization. These are a few of the services to facilitate the said functions:
- BigQuery
- Cloud Dataproc
- Cloud Dataflow
Billing Dashboard
Last but not least, comes the cost factor. Like any cloud service, everything on Google Cloud Platform Console is available on a pay-per-use basis. Additionally, Google also offers a limited number of services for free. For example, one F1 micro instance per month is provided in the free tier for VM. Similarly, 5GB of standard storage is given with every free tier.
On top of this, Google provides $300 worth of credit to use for new users, with the option to purchase more as and when required. The cost breakdown of this can be seen in the Billing tab, as shown above. Here you can have the option to see all past spending and select a payment method of choice (for the future) from settings.
FAQs
- Is Using the Google Cloud Platform Console free?
Yes, the GCP Console comes with a free tier with a number of features, and $300 worth of credits to start you off. Afterward, one may choose to purchase more credits to unlock more features or continue using the ones they’re using. - How is the GCP Console different from Cloud Shell?
The Console and the Shell are two of the ways by which a user can interact with the GCP platform. While the Console offers a graphical UI, the Shell takes input via Command Line Interface (CLI). They’re not mutually exclusive, as both have functionalities that aren’t possible in the other. - Where do I get help regarding the GCP Console?
While the GCP Console is rather intuitive and easy to use and understand, in case one needs some support regarding a particular topic or section, they can get that from the Support page. The level of support is dependent on what tier the user is on.
Related References
- GCP Associate Cloud Engineer: All You Need To Know About
- GCP Professional Cloud Architect: Everything You Need To Know
- Introduction To Google Cloud Platform
- Google Cloud Services & Tools
Next Task For You
If you are also interested and want to more about the Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer certification then register for our Free Class.
The post Google Cloud Platform Console Walkthrough appeared first on Cloud Training Program.