Introducing Google Cloud NetApp Volumes Flex service level

We are excited to share with you the upcoming general availability of an addition to our Google Cloud storage services: the new Flex service level in Google Cloud NetApp Volumes. The Flex service level will be released in the second quarter (Q2) of calendar year 2024 and will be available in 15 Google Cloud regions.

Since its introduction in August 2023, Google Cloud NetApp Volumes has offered enterprise-grade file storage to customers who choose a fully managed file service. Built on NetApp^® ONTAP^® technology and operated by Google Cloud, it supports diverse workloads by offering a range of service levels: 

• Standard. This highly available general-purpose storage service with advanced data management capabilities offers 16MiBps per TiB. This service level is recommended for file shares, VMs, and development and testing environments. 
• Premium. This elevated performance tier with highly available high-performance storage with advanced data management capabilities offers 64MiBps per TiB. It’s optimal for file shares, VMs, and databases. 
• Extreme. Our highest performance level provides highly available, low-latency, high-throughput storage with advanced data management capabilities, delivering 128MiBps per TiB. It’s recommended for OLTP high-performance databases and low-latency applications. 

In response to customer feedback, we identified some key areas for enhancement in the Google Cloud NetApp Volumes service levels, including: 
 

• Smaller volume size. To better suit certain workloads, smaller volume sizes than the existing minimum of 100GiB must be supported. 
• Burst performance. Some volumes within a storage pool must be able to temporarily require and sustain higher performance levels. 
• Zone failure protection. The volumes should be accessible in the event one of the zones becomes unavailable.

Innovating together, the NetApp and Google Cloud teams developed a new service level to meet these needs. We are proud to offer the Flex service level, which adds a fourth tier to the existing three Google Cloud NetApp Volumes service levels.

Flex is the culmination of ONTAP software technologies that are fine-tuned for Google Cloud's cutting-edge hardware. This synergy empowers users to handle a broad array of use cases while maintaining all the enterprise-grade data management features they rely on. 

Key features of the Flex service level 

To better meet customers’ needs, the Flex service level enhancements include: 

• Versatile volume sizing. Create volumes that range from a petite 1GiB to a hefty 100TiB. 
• Flexible storage pools. Configure storage pools in a range from 1TiB to 200TiB. 
• Shared performance. Achieve shared performance capabilities of up to 1GiBps, contingent on your pool size.

• Regional availability. Get enhanced data availability to protect against zonal outages within a region. 

The Google Cloud NetApp Volumes Flex service level provides:  
 

• Fully managed cloud storage service. Effortlessly deploy file storage without the hassle of infrastructure setup. 
• Multiprotocol file system support. Get seamless file access for both Windows and Linux file systems. 
• Scalability. Benefit from rapid scaling to hundreds of volumes with the ability to dynamically resize volumes up and down. 
• Volume replication. Asynchronous data replication to a different region enhances your application protection.  
• Google Cloud user experience. Get secure integration with Google Cloud Identity and Access Management (IAM), Google Cloud APIs, the Google Cloud CLI (gcloud CLI), and the Google Cloud console with extended integration into the Google Cloud portfolio of services. 
• Security. Secure by design, Google Cloud NetApp Volumes includes network security, access control, and data encryption at rest. 

Soon you can check out the Flex service level for yourself. Google Cloud NetApp Volumes Flex service will be available in 15 regions in Q2 2024 and extended to all Google Cloud regions by Q3 2024.

Google Cloud NetApp Volumes will continue to evolve to serve more use cases for you, whether you’re expanding your cloud usage for new workloads or just starting your cloud journey. You get a platform for seamlessly migrating all your enterprise workloads no matter what their capacity or performance needs are, all without the need for refactoring. 

We invite you to join us at Google Cloud Next ’24, April 9 through 11, at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Visit us at booth #1231 to learn more about how Google Cloud NetApp Volumes can move your cloud strategy forward.  

This blog post was coauthored with Dan Eawaz, product manager at Google Cloud.