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How To Host Website On Google Cloud Platform:

In this blog post,  we will show you how to host your website on Google Cloud Platform.

What is Google Cloud Platform?

Google cloud platform provides a set of services, such as analytics tools and storage mechanisms, that allow developers to build various types of applications including the following: web apps, mobile backends, machine learning models, etc. 

How do I get started with GCP?

GCP includes services such as compute engine (a scalable computation fabric), container engine (builds Docker containers in seconds), App Engine (server for building web applications easily).

You can sign up with GCP using an account manager or an enterprise agreement. 

Account managers are free while enterprises need to pay monthly subscription rates based on their usage needs.

You get $300 credit just by signing up!

It’s easy to use the google cloud console where all your resources will be available on the dashboard.

If you want more insights into your projects like costs we recommend using the billing section.

GCP has a service called Google Cloud Storage which is object storage with two types of accounts: Standard and Regional. 

You can also upload data to GCS using the command line interface or through libraries provided by Google that allow you to connect your own app in any language supported by GCP (node js, python, java).

Tip: do not use spaces when typing long-form content on Medium! Use paragraphs instead for breaks between thoughts.

You have many options available if you want to host a website like App Engine flexible environment where you get allocated resources depending on how much time they are used over 28 day period) and Compute engine flexible VMS (pay only for what’s consumed for the hour).

The default region is us-central, but you can change this to either Europe or Asia.

If you are in a country that’s not supported by these regions, then it may be worth using App Engine standard environment (no automatic scaling) and Compute engine Standard VMS.

How To Host Website On Google Cloud Platform?

Follow these steps to host a website on Google Cloud Platform.

1). Buy a domain name

What does domain name mean?

A domain name is an identifier for one or more IP addresses–usually consisting of labels such as ‘example.com’ or ‘.net’. 

It is the address people will type into their browsers to access content in your website.

Now, to own one, you need to register it.

To do that, you first need to search the domain name to see if it is available. And once you have ascertained its availability, go ahead and register.

And the cost of a domain name will vary depending on the type of domain you pick.

  • .com domains cost more than ccTLDs. Here, you can get a .com domain at $8.39
  • .net – $11.19
  • .us – $3.49

What is more important here is getting the DNS management system because it will help you host website on Google Cloud Platform.

2). Hosting website on GCP

To help you host a website on Google Cloud Platform, you can use Google Cloud Storage.

With this solution, you can host a static website (website on a read-only mode).

This is a type of website that users cannot leave comments or fill forms.

But if you are looking to host a dynamic website on Google Cloud Platform, you are in luck.

This is because Google provides VMs that runs on either Windows or Linux operating systems.

Additionally, if your website is expected to carry a huge load, you may consider hosting it on containers.

This will help you distribute it on a managed cluster.

Either way, VMs is perfect for most users because it supports WordPress.

3). Setting up Google Compute engine

When you set up VMs on Google Compute Engine, that becomes an instance.

And you can configure instances to have operating system, physical storage, CPU, and RAM, which of course, will depend on your budget.

Lucky for you, Google has a calculator you can use to make an estimate on how much it will cost you to host website on Google Cloud Platform per month.

Google Cloud Launcher will come in handy here.

Use this tool to deploy a full website-serving stack and even install CMSs like WordPress, Django, Joomla, among others.

4). Setting up a LAMP stack

LAMP stack is the tool you will need to host website on Google Cloud Platform powered by Linux.

See, Linux Operating System is the most popular around here simply because it is open source and free.

Additionally, Linux can run on desktops too.

To get started, consider Ubuntu, since this is the most popular one. And you can find a ton of tutorials online.

Once the operating system has been installed, your next move is choosing the web server.

There are two popular options here; Apache or NGNIX. 

Apache or NGNIX? Which one should I choose?

Apache

Apache is an open-source web server, and a popular choice for many websites. 

It uses the Linux kernel to provide stability and high performance. 

The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) provides financial support and hosting services to all users of its software packages– including enterprise customers.

The ASF also supports development through donations in order to ensure that they can continue developing new features without relying on paid engineers or other forms of funding so you can get up and running with your site quickly! 

NGNIX

NGNix is developed by Nginx Inc., which was founded by Igor Sysoev after he found out that his name translates as “Stabilizer” in Latin. 

Built from scratch using C++, NGNix is a modern web server that provides stability and high performance.

Apache processes dynamic content within the web server itself. Nginx can’t process dynamic content natively.

The performance of Apache for static content is lower than Nginx. 

Nginx can simultaneously run thousands of connections of static content two times faster than Apache and uses little less memory

The next move when looking to host website on Google Cloud Platform is picking a database.

You have two options; MySQL or MariaDB.

Both are open source and work really well.

5). Pointing your domain to Google Cloud Hosting

Now that you have a ready hosting account on Google Cloud Platform, your next move is to point the domain you bought in step one here.

This is a necessary step if your website is going to work well.

All you have to do is access the domain DNS records where you registered your domain and edit the A record to point to your server’s public IP address.

Fortunately, Google provides a Cloud DNS manager you can use to manage your domain records.

Once that is done, test your new website by visiting the domain on a web browser.

 

Benefits of hosting a website on Google cloud platform

Here are the reasons why you need to host website on Google Cloud Platform.

Scalable

Google cloud platform is scalable. It can grow as your business grows or shrink to suit the needs of your budget.

Budget Friendly

Hosting on google’s cloud reduces operational costs for hosting a website.

This is because it removes all the expensive hardware and software from your company, allowing you to focus solely on running its operations while still being able to provide reliable web services with minimal downtime. 

The only major expense that will have are monthly charges based off usage which is much cheaper than maintaining an in-house server farm at this scale.

Secure

Google offers a number of features and safeguards that are unavailable to most organizations. 

One of the first is encryption, which ensures that your data remains private even when stored with someone else. 

Another great feature is Data Loss Prevention (DLP), which can be used to scan for sensitive information in emails or documents before it leaves your company’s networks.

Flexibility

The cloud provides flexibility for companies who may want different services from their website over time based on new needs and changing markets. 

It also gives a way to scale up resources quickly if there’s an influx of visitors or business activity without investing in expensive hardware devices you might not need at another point in time. 

This allows more efficient use of budget dollars and can reduce the risk of being caught short because you don’t have enough resources to meet demand.

Pay for what you need

Customers can also experience the ability to pay for only what they need. 

The pricing varies based on how much computing power and storage are needed, but it’s always billed by usage rather than a fixed fee that includes unseen or unused resources. 

There is no commitment required for this service – customers just have to be responsible for their consumption. 

Right now as the cloud industry matures, there’s more competition in hosting services which has led to better prices being available. 

That means clients will find Google Cloud Platform cheaper when compared to other providers who may come across as having higher costs.

Because those providers don’t offer an alternative option as GCP does of using another provider such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, or IBM Softlayer if necessary (e.g. for high availability requirements).

Conclusion

Google Cloud Platform is a great choice for hosting your website due to its scalability, data security, and flexibility features.

 

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