Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

OpenStack VS Google Compute Engine

Compare OpenStack VS Google Compute Engine and see what are their differences

OpenStack logo OpenStack

OpenStack software controls large pools of compute, storage, and networking resources throughout a datacenter, managed through a dashboard or via the OpenStack API.

Google Compute Engine logo Google Compute Engine

Google Compute Engine is not just fast. It’s Google fast.
  • OpenStack Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-22
  • Google Compute Engine Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-22

OpenStack features and specs

  • Open Source
    OpenStack is open source, which means there is no licensing fee and a broad community of users and developers contributes to its development and support.
  • Flexibility
    It supports a wide variety of hardware and software, allowing organizations to customize their cloud infrastructure to meet specific needs.
  • Scalability
    OpenStack can scale horizontally, allowing organizations to add or remove resources as their needs change, effectively managing large pools of compute, storage, and networking resources.
  • Vendor Neutrality
    Being vendor-neutral, OpenStack offers flexibility to avoid vendor lock-in and choose from a wide range of compatible technologies and service providers.
  • Community Support
    A large and active community provides extensive documentation, forums, and support, which can be very helpful for troubleshooting and development.

Possible disadvantages of OpenStack

  • Complexity
    Setting up and managing OpenStack can be complex and requires a significant level of expertise, which may necessitate specialized training for staff.
  • Performance Overhead
    Being a feature-rich platform, it often involves more performance overhead compared to other simpler, more streamlined services.
  • Resource Intensive
    OpenStack can be resource-intensive in terms of CPU, memory, and storage, which might not be suitable for all organizations, especially smaller ones with limited resources.
  • Interoperability Issues
    Integrating OpenStack with existing systems and third-party tools can sometimes present challenges, especially when dealing with legacy infrastructure.
  • Evolving Platform
    The platform is constantly evolving, which can be both a pro and a con. Keeping up to date with the latest releases and changes can be time-consuming and may require ongoing maintenance.

Google Compute Engine features and specs

  • Scalability
    Google Compute Engine offers robust scalability, allowing users to easily increase or decrease resources to match the workload demands. This ensures that businesses can handle growing traffic and data without unnecessary delays.
  • Performance
    GCE provides high-performance virtual machines with the ability to customize CPU, memory, and persistent disk configurations. The underlying infrastructure is optimized for high-speed operations.
  • Global Reach
    With data centers located around the world, GCE provides global reach and redundancy. This ensures low-latency access and high availability for applications and services.
  • Integration
    GCE integrates seamlessly with other Google Cloud services, such as Google Kubernetes Engine, BigQuery, and Cloud Storage. This ecosystem facilitates streamlined workflows and enhanced functionality.
  • Security
    GCE features multiple layers of security including encryption, identity management, and regular compliance audits. These measures ensure that data and applications are well-protected.
  • Cost-Effective
    With per-second billing and various pricing plans, GCE offers cost-effective solutions. Users only pay for what they use, which can lead to significant savings.

Possible disadvantages of Google Compute Engine

  • Complexity
    For new users, the wide range of services and options within GCE can be overwhelming. It may require a steep learning curve to fully understand and leverage all available features.
  • Support Costs
    While GCE offers various support plans, premium support options can be expensive. Smaller businesses might find the cost prohibitive compared to their budget.
  • Vendor Lock-In
    Once services are deeply integrated with GCE, it may be difficult to migrate to another cloud provider. This could result in vendor lock-in and reduced flexibility for organizations.
  • Regional Availability
    Even though GCE has a broad global presence, not all services are available in every region. This can be a limitation for businesses that require specific features in certain geographic locations.
  • Network Egress Charges
    GCE charges for outbound data transfer, which can add up for applications serving large amounts of data across regions or the internet. Users need to monitor and manage egress costs carefully.

OpenStack videos

OpenStack Summit Primer, The Who, What, Why and How of OpenStack

More videos:

  • Review - Red Hat OpenStack Platform GPU use case
  • Review - Performance Analysis Review for Production OpenStack Private Cloud in SaaS

Google Compute Engine videos

Getting Started with Google Compute Engine

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to OpenStack and Google Compute Engine)
Cloud Computing
58 58%
42% 42
VPS
49 49%
51% 51
Cloud Infrastructure
44 44%
56% 56
Cloud Hosting
61 61%
39% 39

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare OpenStack and Google Compute Engine

OpenStack Reviews

35+ Of The Best CI/CD Tools: Organized By Category
OpenStack is a cloud framework. It provides users and enterprises with horizontal scale infrastructure. Its tools allow you to compute, store and share data and resources. It also provides self-service administration that users can interact with directly.

Google Compute Engine Reviews

Alternatives to Amazon's Cloud Services (AWS)
Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Compute are the two biggest competitors to AWS attempting to offer a growing stack of service offerings.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Google Compute Engine should be more popular than OpenStack. It has been mentiond 15 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

OpenStack mentions (2)

  • Learn OpenStack by Example: Part 1 - Install DevStack
    In my first post, I looked into what is OpenStack and how, if done right, can be quite a powerful ally in our cloud deployment strategies. In this post, I want to start looking at how we can create an application to learn the basics and components of the system. - Source: dev.to / almost 4 years ago
  • Learn OpenStack by examples: Part 0 - Summary and Goals
    While searching for solutions and documentation on the various problems I've come across, I would often see references to OpenStack and it got my curiosity going. What is OpenStack? What services does it offer and who owns it? How do I learn to use it? What are it's costs and limitations? - Source: dev.to / almost 4 years ago

Google Compute Engine mentions (15)

  • Please bring neon db to GCP
    Surely you can run your own instances on some sort of "Compute" in GCP? https://cloud.google.com/products/compute. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Pickems website for MSI 2023
    The backend is written in node.js and is deployed using Google Compute Engine. I wanted to learn Kubernetes but it seemed more complicated and also more expensive than GCE. We also use mongodb. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Is it possible to host a Golang Application Free Indefinitely?
    Google seems to have a free tiny VM offering. AWS and Azure have one for a year. Of course, whether Google's will still be free in a year is whoknows. Source: about 2 years ago
  • typical programmer life
    Cloud VM's are the easy answer here. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Migrating Wordpress from GCP to AWS
    You may have noticed some changes to this site. Along with some style and color changes, I've updated the domain, and focused the pages on my technical blog. Originally this site started as an administrative page for the Minecraft servers I am hosting. I built the first Minecraft server in Google Cloud on a general Compute Engine instance, and was running this web page on a separate smaller instance. As the... - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing OpenStack and Google Compute Engine, you can also consider the following products

Linode - We make it simple to develop, deploy, and scale cloud infrastructure at the best price-to-performance ratio in the market.

Amazon EC2 - Amazon Web Services offers reliable, scalable, and inexpensive cloud computing services. Free to join, pay only for what you use.

DigitalOcean - Simplifying cloud hosting. Deploy an SSD cloud server in 55 seconds.

Proxmox VE - Proxmox is an open-source server virtualization management solution that offers the ability to manage virtual server technology with the Linux OpenVZ and KVM technology.

Microsoft Azure - Windows Azure and SQL Azure enable you to build, host and scale applications in Microsoft datacenters.

Vultr - VULTR Global Cloud Hosting - Brilliantly Fast SSD VPS Cloud Servers. 100% KVM Virtualization