Guided Lab: Creating a Cloud Storage Bucket

Jon-Bonso

Description

Cloud Storage is a fully managed, scalable service designed for storing unstructured data, such as images, videos, backups, and logs. You can store virtually unlimited amounts of data and retrieve it whenever needed, making it ideal for both archival and active workloads.

At the core of Cloud Storage are buckets, which are top-level containers that hold your data as objects. Every file you upload must reside in a bucket. While buckets help organize and secure your data, it’s important to note that they are not hierarchical like folders; you cannot nest buckets within each other.

In this guided lab, you’ll learn how to access Cloud Storage through the Google Cloud Console, create a new bucket, organize it using folders, upload files or folders from your local machine, and explore key bucket features such as permissions, lifecycle rules, and protection settings.

Objectives

In this lab, you will:

Create a new storage bucket with default or customized settings
Organize your bucket by creating folders
Upload files or folders from your local machine
Explore bucket features like Permissions, Lifecycle, and Protection

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Lab Steps

Navigating to Google Cloud Storage

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the unified search bar at the top.

2. Type “storage” and select “Cloud Storage” from the results.

3. In the left-hand menu, click Buckets, then choose Create or Create bucket to begin.

Creating a Bucket

1. On the Create a bucket page, enter your desired bucket name (should be unique).

2. You may explore optional settings (e.g., location, access control), but default configurations are sufficient for most use cases.

3. Click Create to finalize.

3. Once created, you will be redirected to the Bucket details page, where you can explore tabs such as Objects, Configuration, Permissions, Protection, Lifecycle, etc.

Creating a Folder & Uploading Files

Once your bucket is ready, you can organize content or upload assets:

To Create a Folder:

Click Create folder.

Enter your folder name in the prompt.

Click Create to confirm.

To Upload Files or Folders:

Click Upload, then choose Files or Folder.

Select the items from your local machine.
Upload progress and status (success or failure) will be displayed.

That’s it! You’ve successfully created a Cloud Storage bucket, organized it with folders, and uploaded your files, laying the foundation for scalable, secure storage in Google Cloud. Feel free to explore additional features like lifecycle rules, access controls, and object versioning to deepen your hands-on experience.