Google Takes on Amazon with Cloud Spanner Upgrades
In what seems like a classic David versus Goliath scenario, Google is shaking up the cloud industry by beefing up its Cloud Spanner database service. The tech giant is not just flexing its muscles; it’s promising its users some serious savings.
Picture this: the upgraded Cloud Spanner now boasts a 50% boost in reading speed and can store a mammoth 10 terabytes per node, jumping up from its previous 4 terabytes. This isn’t just a teaser; Google promises to roll out these features to everyone in the next few months, with some lucky users getting a taste of it already.
In a cheeky move, Google has playfully compared its Cloud Spanner’s performance to Amazon’s DynamoDB. Google claims their tool processes a staggering 3 billion queries each second, making DynamoDB’s 126 million look almost pedestrian. However, there’s a small catch. Google’s numbers come from Amazon’s Prime Day figures, which might not truly reflect DynamoDB’s peak performance.
Diving deeper into the numbers game, Google is hinting that its revamped Cloud Spanner can deliver twice the bang for your buck compared to DynamoDB when you look at similar tasks. Sure, they’ve been a bit coy about what these “similar workloads” are, but the challenge has been thrown. And while Google’s starting price for Cloud Spanner is set at $65 a month, DynamoDB is countering with its super flexible pay-as-you-go pricing.
Behind all the tech talk and number-crunching, there’s a bigger story unfolding. Google is on a mission. From having 6% of the cloud market pie in 2017, they’ve managed to almost double their share to 11% by 2022. But Amazon’s AWS? Still the king of the hill with a whopping 34% share.
Yet, amidst the cloud tug-of-war, Google Cloud’s recent performance is turning heads. Their revenue soared by 28% in the last quarter, crossing the $8 billion mark and making it their second consecutive profitable quarter. The message is clear: the cloud battlefield is heating up, and Google’s rolling up its sleeves.
