google-cloud

What this skill does

# Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

## Core Capabilities

Provides expert guidance for Google Cloud Platform across all major services:

1. **Compute Services** - Compute Engine (VMs), Cloud Run, Cloud Functions, App Engine
2. **Container & Kubernetes** - Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), Artifact Registry, Cloud Build
3. **Storage Services** - Cloud Storage (buckets), Persistent Disk, Filestore
4. **Database Services** - Cloud SQL, Cloud Spanner, Firestore, Bigtable, Memorystore
5. **Data & Analytics** - BigQuery, Dataflow, Dataproc, Pub/Sub, Composer
6. **Networking** - VPC, Cloud Load Balancing, Cloud CDN, Cloud Armor, Cloud Interconnect
7. **Security & IAM** - Identity and Access Management, Secret Manager, Cloud KMS, Security Command Center
8. **Infrastructure as Code** - Terraform Google provider, Deployment Manager, Config Connector

## Key Principles

## General Best Practices

- **Follow least privilege** - Use IAM roles with minimal required permissions
- **Enable monitoring** - Configure Cloud Monitoring and Logging for all services
- **Use managed services** - Prefer GKE Autopilot, Cloud SQL, Cloud Run over self-managed
- **Implement IaC** - Use Terraform or Deployment Manager for reproducible infrastructure
- **Tag resources** - Apply labels for cost allocation and organization
- **Design for HA** - Use regional resources and multi-zone deployments
- **Secure by default** - Enable encryption, use private IPs, configure VPC Service Controls
- **Optimize costs** - Use committed use discounts, autoscaling, and appropriate resource sizing

### Architecture Patterns

- **Multi-tier applications**: VPC + Cloud Load Balancer + GKE/Cloud Run + Cloud SQL
- **Data pipelines**: Pub/Sub → Dataflow → BigQuery with Cloud Storage staging
- **Serverless APIs**: Cloud Run + Cloud SQL + Secret Manager + Cloud Armor
- **Hybrid connectivity**: VPN or Cloud Interconnect + Shared VPC + Private Google Access

### When to Use What

- **Compute Engine**: Full VM control, Windows workloads, lift-and-shift migrations
- **GKE**: Containerized applications, microservices, Kubernetes workloads
- **Cloud Run**: Stateless HTTP services, event-driven processing, auto-scaling needs
- **Cloud Functions**: Event handlers, webhooks, simple integrations
- **Cloud SQL**: Relational databases with minimal management
- **Cloud Spanner**: Global distributed SQL, strong consistency across regions
- **BigQuery**: Data warehouse, analytics, large-scale SQL queries
- **Firestore**: Document database, real-time sync, mobile/web apps

## Detailed References

Load reference files based on specific needs:

- **Compute Services**: See [compute-services.md](references/compute-services.md) for:
  - Compute Engine machine types and selection guide
  - Managed instance groups and autoscaling
  - Custom images and startup scripts
  - Preemptible VMs and spot instances

- **Container Orchestration**: See [container-orchestration.md](references/container-orchestration.md) for:
  - GKE cluster setup and configuration
  - Autopilot vs Standard mode comparison
  - Node pool management and scaling
  - Workload identity and service accounts
  - GKE Ingress and Gateway API

- **Storage Solutions**: See [storage-solutions.md](references/storage-solutions.md) for:
  - Cloud Storage bucket configuration
  - Storage class selection and lifecycle policies
  - Persistent disk types and performance
  - Filestore for shared file systems

- **Database Services**: See [database-services.md](references/database-services.md) for:
  - Cloud SQL instance configuration
  - Cloud Spanner for global databases
  - Firestore data modeling
  - Bigtable for large-scale NoSQL
  - Memorystore for Redis/Memcached

- **Data & Analytics**: See [data-analytics.md](references/data-analytics.md) for:
  - BigQuery table design and optimization
  - Dataflow streaming and batch pipelines
  - Pub/Sub messaging patterns
  - Cloud Composer (Airflow) workflows
  - Data governance and security

- **Networking Architecture**: See [networking-architecture.md](references/networking-architecture.md) for:
  - VPC design patterns and subnet planning
  - Cloud Load Balancing configuration
  - Cloud CDN and Cloud Armor setup
  - VPN and Cloud Interconnect
  - Shared VPC and peering

- **Serverless Computing**: See [serverless-computing.md](references/serverless-computing.md) for:
  - Cloud Functions deployment and triggers
  - Cloud Run service configuration
  - App Engine standard and flexible
  - Event-driven architectures
  - Cold start optimization

- **Security & IAM**: See [security-iam.md](references/security-iam.md) for:
  - IAM roles and service accounts
  - Organization policies and constraints
  - VPC Service Controls
  - Secret Manager integration
  - Cloud KMS encryption
  - Security Command Center alerts

- **Infrastructure as Code**: See [infrastructure-as-code.md](references/infrastructure-as-code.md) for:
  - Terraform Google provider patterns
  - Deployment Manager templates
  - Config Connector for GKE
  - CI/CD with Cloud Build
  - State management best practices

- **Migration to GCP**: See [migration-to-gcp.md](references/migration-to-gcp.md) for:
  - Migration planning and assessment
  - Migrate for Compute Engine (Velostrata)
  - Database migration service
  - Storage transfer service
  - Cutover strategies and validation

- **Monitoring & Logging**: See [monitoring-logging.md](references/monitoring-logging.md) for:
  - Cloud Monitoring setup and metrics
  - Cloud Logging configuration
  - Log-based alerts and metrics
  - Cloud Trace for distributed tracing
  - Cloud Profiler for performance
  - Dashboards and SLO monitoring

- **CI/CD Pipeline**: See [cicd-pipeline.md](references/cicd-pipeline.md) for:
  - Cloud Build configuration
  - Artifact Registry for containers
  - Deployment to GKE, Cloud Run, App Engine
  - Binary Authorization for security
  - Integration with GitHub, GitLab

- **Cost Management**: See [cost-management.md](references/cost-management.md) for:
  - Billing reports and cost allocation
  - Budget alerts and quotas
  - Committed use discounts planning
  - Resource optimization strategies
  - Cost anomaly detection

- **Multi-Region Architecture**: See [multi-region-architecture.md](references/multi-region-architecture.md) for:
  - Global load balancing patterns
  - Multi-region database replication
  - Cross-region data transfer
  - Disaster recovery strategies
  - Regional failover setup

- **Hybrid & Multi-Cloud**: See [hybrid-multi-cloud.md](references/hybrid-multi-cloud.md) for:
  - Anthos for hybrid Kubernetes
  - Cloud Interconnect and VPN
  - Multi-cloud networking patterns
  - Workload migration strategies
  - Identity federation

- **GCP CLI & Tools**: See [gcp-cli-tools.md](references/gcp-cli-tools.md) for:
  - gcloud CLI installation and configuration
  - Common gcloud commands
  - Cloud Shell usage
  - gsutil for Cloud Storage
  - bq for BigQuery operations
  - kubectl for GKE management