Getting Started with Google Cloud Platform — A Beginner’s Guide
Tags: cloud, beginners, career, googlecloud
Published: 2021-03-15 13:39:37

**“The cloud”** refers to servers that are accessed over the Internet, and the software and databases that run on those servers. Cloud servers are located in data centers all over the world. By using cloud computing, users and companies don’t have to manage physical servers themselves or run software applications on their own machines.

The cloud enables users to access the same files and applications from almost any device, because the computing and storage takes place on servers in a data center, instead of locally on the user device. This is why a user can log into their Instagram account on a new phone after their old phone breaks and still find their old account in place, with all their photos, videos, and conversation history. It works the same way with cloud email providers like Gmail or Microsoft Office 365, and with cloud storage providers like Dropbox or Google Drive.

For businesses, switching to cloud computing removes some IT costs and overhead: for instance, they no longer need to update and maintain their own servers, as the cloud vendor they are using will do that. This especially makes an impact for small businesses that may not have been able to afford their own internal infrastructure but can outsource their infrastructure needs affordably via the cloud. 

The cloud can also make it easier for companies to operate internationally, because employees and customers can access the same files and applications from any location.

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/u1085f9ir3np65ggw6e5.png)

My Background: I am Cloud and Big Data Enthusiast , I am here because I love to Talk about Cloud. I am 11x Cloud Certified Expert. 4x AWS Certified , 3x Oracle Cloud Certified , 3x Azure Certified 1x Alibaba Cloud Certified .

# Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

Google Cloud Platform is a suite of public cloud computing services offered by Google. The platform includes a range of hosted services for compute, storage and application development that run on Google hardware. Google Cloud Platform services can be accessed by software developers, cloud administrators and other enterprise IT professionals over the public internet or through a dedicated network connection.

# Overview of Google Cloud Platform offerings

Google Cloud Platform offers services for compute, storage, networking, big data, machine learning and the internet of things (IoT), as well as cloud management, security and developer tools. 

The core cloud computing products in Google Cloud Platform include:

**Google Compute Engine**, which is an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) offering that provides users with virtual machine instances for workload hosting.

**Google App Engine**, which is a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offering that gives software developers access to Google’s scalable hosting. Developers can also use a software developer kit (SDK) to develop software products that run on App Engine.

**Google Cloud Storage**, which is a cloud storage platform designed to store large, unstructured data sets. Google also offers database storage options, including Cloud Datastore for NoSQL nonrelational storage, Cloud SQL for MySQL fully relational storage and Google’s native Cloud Bigtable database.

**Google Container Engine**, which is a management and orchestration system for Docker containers that runs within Google’s public cloud. Google Container Engine is based on the Google Kubernetes container orchestration engine.

Google Cloud Platform offers application development and integration services. For example, **Google Cloud Pub/Sub** is a managed and real-time messaging service that allows messages to be exchanged between applications. 

In addition, **Google Cloud Endpoints** allows developers to create services based on RESTful APIs, and then make those services accessible to Apple iOS, Android and JavaScript clients. 

Other offerings include Anycast DNS servers, direct network interconnections, load balancing, monitoring and logging services.

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/kswi44txllnfumom80c9.jpg)

# Google Cloud Platform Account

Create an account

It is very easy to create a GCP account. Sign up for a gmail account and you are ready to go. You can also use your existing gmail account, if you have any.

# GCP Signup for Free Trial

Go TRY IT FREE. At first try, you have to agree with GCP’s terms and conditions, and provide necessary details, etc. Continue and finish the setup part.

At some point in the registration, you will be asked to provide your credit card details. You can skip this part for now if you are certain that you do not need GPUs, or just skip that part if you are still unsure with what to do with your GCP account. Upon completion of the registration, you agreed to avail of their free trial account, and is now entitled to 300USD free credits.

# Free trial account

Here are some limitations of the free trial account that I find relevant to us at this point

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/tntndjazh2nzu6wlt6h5.png)

Free trial credits will expire 12 months after your GCP signup
Your project can only have at most 8 cores (virtual CPUs) running at the same time

You cannot request for GPU

Read [more here](https://cloud.google.com/free/docs/frequently-asked-questions#limitations) for more FAQs on limitations

# Hello, GCP Console

Upon successful GCP signup, you will now be redirected to the console. The console will serve as the dashboard of everything-google-cloud-related stuff. Please feel free to TOUR CONSOLE, if you need to.

# What is the GCP Certification?

Google Cloud Platform or GCP certification is the most popular certification that has been preferred by every professional to accomplish a better job position and job promotion in their career. It has helped the present-day youth secure their dream job in well-established companies where there are chances of higher career growth. The job applicant with the information of GCP certification gains higher advantages and preferences than others. Therefore GCP is the best certification that every techie student or professional should strive for.

# Why is the GCP Certification Important?

Google Cloud Platform, as the name suggests, is the product of Google, which has supported the change and development of the world. The upcoming of Google 20 years earlier marked the start of a new age of revolution, which ended the limits to share information and knowledge. Google helped in crossing political, cultural, and social boundaries to bring true before the people. Now, Google is facilitating the process of learning and development of an information system.

This has not only increased the pace of information sharing but also brought down the costs of learning the new age technology. Google had moved far ahead of the competition that existed between Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Azure. Today the GCP by Google has been used by the majority of the Fortune 500 companies because of its ease, availability, comfortability, and added features that support the data recording, processing, updating, and analysis process.

This is the reason the students and professionals from around the world prefer GCP certification as it has become the preference of reputed companies who can offer better remuneration and job stability in the present-day world where job markets are facing complete chaos.

# How to Get a GCP Certification?

Google Cloud Platform certification is required to ensure the technology companies that the candidate applying for a job has all the relevant skills and abilities in the required field. The direct path to get GCP certification starts as follows.

Step 1: Getting knowledge about the cloud computing process and Google Cloud Platform fundamentals.

Step 2: Develop skills to architect using Google Cloud Platform.

Step 3: Learning to apply Google Cloud Platform for designing and processing purposes.

Step 4: Taking the Cloud Architect Examination and getting certified.

Now the role of GCP certification rises after the second stage and before the third stage. Step 3 could be to take up the Cloud Engineering Examination and getting certified. This will help the students and professionals to enhance their knowledge and decide if they are fit for the next step. 

This way, attempts could be made to stick with the second step until expertize is achieved, which can be tested through the added third step of the Cloud Engineer Examination and thereby getting certified. 
The suggested process should be as follows.

Step 1: Getting knowledge about the cloud computing process and Google Cloud Platform fundamentals.

Step 2: Develop skills to architect using Google Cloud Platform.

Step 3: Cloud Engineer Examination for Certification.

Step 4: Learning to apply Google Cloud Platform for designing and processing purposes.

Step 5: Taking the Cloud Architect Examination and getting certified.

Cloud Engineering with Google Cloud Professional Certificate is a great online GCP course that will help you in preparing for the Google Cloud certification.

you can [read more from this article.](https://hackr.io/blog/gcp-certifications)

# The Best Approach to Crack GCP Certification

The best approach to crack a GCP Certification includes,
Be very clear with the cloud computing fundamental concepts.
You should have appropriate knowledge and skills in using the concepts in real-life applications.

Ability to develop an architecture for GCP for effective utilization of resources and achieving quality outcomes
Practicing concepts is as important as learning the concept.
Try to solve questions in the practice tests available online.
Be aware of roles and policies.

Never give up, especially in your first attempt as life means trying again and again until you succeed.

Keep yourself updated with the latest technological upgrades and know-how.

It should be remembered that the certification for GCP is valid for two years only, and therefore reapplying is required after these two years with additional knowledge and additions made in the time interval.

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/61wklezqzbump2fppjkm.png)

I hope these article will help you in preparing for the GCP certification exam. I look forward to hearing about your experiences. Do share your GCP journeys and key takeaways from this interesting learning experience.
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