Google Cloud Platform in Action

Foreword

In the early days of Google, we were a victim of our own success. People loved our search results, but handling more search traffic meant we needed more servers, which at that time meant physical servers, not virtual ones. Traffic was growing by something like 10% every week, so every few days we would hit a new record, and we had to ensure we had enough capacity to handle it all. We also had to do it all from scratch.

When it comes to our infrastructural challenges, we’ve largely succeeded. We’ve built a system of data centers and networks that rival most of the world, but until recently, that infrastructure has been exclusively for us. Google Cloud Platform represents the natural extension of our infrastructural achievements over ...