Google Cloud Platform for Developers

Virtual file structures

Traditional filesystems are hierarchical in that files can be organized into deeply nested directories. Cloud Storage hosts data in a very flat structure—all files in a given bucket are effectively stored at the bucket's root. In order to replicate the convenience of directories in traditional filesystems, some Cloud Storage tools such as the Cloud Console and gsutil implement a virtual hierarchy. These tools present objects, using common prefixes terminated by /, as belonging to the same virtual directory.

While the virtual hierarchy provides a convenient way to browse objects within a bucket, it's important to keep in mind that it does not represent the actual state of objects within the bucket. Whereas traditional ...