Setting up Google Storage Nearline as a Cloud File Server

Google Nearline which enables customers to store data that is long-lived but infrequently accessed. Nearline data has the same durability and comparable availability as Standard storage but with lower storage costs.  You can read the Google Nearline white paper for more details.

At Storage Made Easy we recently announced the support of Google Nearline and the purpose of this post is to step through how to use Google Nearline with the SME solution.

To being with you will need a Google Storage Account. Once you have signed up for a Google Storage Account you should create a Google Nearline Storage bucket from the Google Developers Console:

Create Google Nearline Bucket

Once a Nearline bucket is created, all bucket and object operations are exactly the same as with the standard storage class. New objects in the bucket, from a user perspective, are transparently stored with the Nearline configuration, and  billing for these objects will be  reflected in the lowered prices.

Once a Google Storage Account is configured it can be used with the Storage Made Easy service.

To add Google Storage to an Accounts simply visit the Cloud DashBoard and choose to add a new Cloud Provider:

Add Google Nearline

Once this is done a wizard will be invoked:

Google Nearline UI

You will need an “Access Key” and a “Secret Key” to connect SME with a Google Cloud Storage account.

To obtain these keys navigate to the Google DashBoard and and under the ‘Storage’ section click on ‘Storage Access’ in the left sidebar and from the subsequent screen ‘Interoperability’. Turn on interoperability and then generate the keys.

After entering the keys and proceeding with the wizard you can select the buckets you wish to be able to use in the SME system:

Google Nearline bucket

Select the Nearline bucket that you configured earlier ensuring the checkbox and radio button are checked.

After clicking ‘continue’ any data that exists in the Nearline bucket will be indexed (metadata only for quick access to listings) and once complete a report generate.

Google Nearline DashBoard

The Nearline Bucket is now available for use with the Storage Made Easy Solution. and is available in the web file manager and from all the SME Client Apps.

Google Storage Nearline File Manager

Google Nearline web file manager

If you wish to manage/add buckets for Google Storage be they standard buckets, reduced redundancy buckets, or Google Nearline buckets, you can do so by visiting the SME DashBoard and choosing the settings of the Google Storage provider.

Google Nearline Manage buckets

At this point the system is set for Google Storage Nearline to be used with the SME system. It can be used to drag and drop or migrate files from other storage providers or it can be used directly as Cloud File Server. Even with the slight delays that accessing this type of tiered storage had, the results are more than acceptable given the cost.

Google Storage Nearline can be used with Free, Personal, or Business SaaS accounts and also with the SME Enterprise on-site Solution, and is available for ISP’s.

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