Filestore - Managed NFS File Storage

Complete guide to Google Cloud Filestore - fully managed NFS file storage.

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📋 Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Service Tiers
3. Instance Management
4. Mounting File Shares
5. Backups
6. Performance
7. High Availability
8. Security
9. Cost Optimization
10. Best Practices

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Introduction

Filestore is a fully managed NFS file storage service for applications requiring a file system interface.

Key Features

✅ Fully managed NFS service
✅ High performance (up to 1,200 MB/s)
✅ POSIX compliant
✅ Shared file access
✅ Multiple tiers
✅ Automatic backups
✅ Snapshots support
✅ VPC integration
✅ Scalable capacity
✅ Low latency (<1ms)

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│         Filestore Instance                          │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  File Share: /vol1                                  │
│  - Capacity: 1 TB                                   │
│  - Tier: Basic HDD                                  │
│  - Network: default VPC                             │
└──────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┘
                   |
        ┌──────────┼──────────┐
        v          v          v
    ┌──────┐   ┌──────┐   ┌──────┐
    │ VM 1 │   │ VM 2 │   │ VM 3 │
    │ App  │   │ App  │   │ App  │
    └──────┘   └──────┘   └──────┘

    All VMs can read/write simultaneously

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Service Tiers

Basic HDD

Standard tier for general workloads

Characteristics:
- HDD-backed storage
- Good for most workloads
- Lower cost
- 1 TB - 63.9 TB capacity

Performance: - Throughput: 180 MB/s (read), 120 MB/s (write) - IOPS: 60,000 (read), 40,000 (write) - Latency: <1ms

Pricing: $0.20/GB/month

Use Cases: - File sharing - Content management - Web serving - Development environments

Basic SSD

SSD tier for higher performance

Characteristics:
- SSD-backed storage
- Higher performance
- Higher cost
- 2.5 TB - 63.9 TB capacity

Performance: - Throughput: 480 MB/s (read), 350 MB/s (write) - IOPS: 60,000 (read), 40,000 (write) - Latency: <1ms

Pricing: $0.30/GB/month

Use Cases: - Databases - Analytics - Media processing - High-performance applications

High Scale SSD

Premium tier for extreme performance

Characteristics:
- High-performance SSD
- Highest throughput
- Premium pricing
- 10 TB - 100 TB capacity

Performance: - Throughput: 1,200 MB/s (read), 1,200 MB/s (write) - IOPS: 100,000 (read), 100,000 (write) - Latency: <1ms

Pricing: $0.60/GB/month

Use Cases: - High-performance computing - Genomics - Financial modeling - Large-scale rendering

Enterprise

Multi-zone tier for high availability

Characteristics:
- Multi-zone replication
- High availability
- Automatic failover
- 1 TB - 10 TB capacity

Performance: - Throughput: 1,200 MB/s - IOPS: 100,000 - Latency: <1ms - 99.99% availability SLA

Pricing: $0.35/GB/month

Use Cases: - Mission-critical applications - Production databases - Enterprise applications - High availability requirements

Tier Comparison

Tier	Storage	Throughput	IOPS	Latency	Cost/GB	HA
Basic HDD	1-63.9 TB	180 MB/s	60K	<1ms	$0.20	No
Basic SSD	2.5-63.9 TB	480 MB/s	60K	<1ms	$0.30	No
High Scale	10-100 TB	1,200 MB/s	100K	<1ms	$0.60	No
Enterprise	1-10 TB	1,200 MB/s	100K	<1ms	$0.35	Yes

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Instance Management

Create Instance

# Create Basic HDD instance
gcloud filestore instances create my-filestore \
  --zone=us-central1-a \
  --tier=BASIC_HDD \
  --file-share=name=vol1,capacity=1TB \
  --network=name=default

# Create Basic SSD instance
gcloud filestore instances create my-ssd-filestore \
  --zone=us-central1-a \
  --tier=BASIC_SSD \
  --file-share=name=vol1,capacity=2560GB \
  --network=name=default

# Create High Scale instance
gcloud filestore instances create my-highscale-filestore \
  --zone=us-central1-a \
  --tier=HIGH_SCALE_SSD \
  --file-share=name=vol1,capacity=10TB \
  --network=name=default

# Create Enterprise instance
gcloud filestore instances create my-enterprise-filestore \
  --region=us-central1 \
  --tier=ENTERPRISE \
  --file-share=name=vol1,capacity=1TB \
  --network=name=default

Instance Configuration

# Create with labels
gcloud filestore instances create my-filestore \
  --zone=us-central1-a \
  --tier=BASIC_HDD \
  --file-share=name=vol1,capacity=1TB \
  --network=name=default \
  --labels=env=prod,team=backend

# Create with description
gcloud filestore instances create my-filestore \
  --zone=us-central1-a \
  --tier=BASIC_HDD \
  --file-share=name=vol1,capacity=1TB \
  --network=name=default \
  --description="Production file storage"

Terraform Example

resource "google_filestore_instance" "default" {
  name     = "my-filestore"
  location = "us-central1-a"
  tier     = "BASIC_HDD"

  file_shares {
    capacity_gb = 1024
    name        = "vol1"
  }

  networks {
    network = "default"
    modes   = ["MODE_IPV4"]
  }

  labels = {
    environment = "production"
    team        = "backend"
  }
}

# High Scale instance
resource "google_filestore_instance" "highscale" {
  name     = "my-highscale-filestore"
  location = "us-central1-a"
  tier     = "HIGH_SCALE_SSD"

  file_shares {
    capacity_gb = 10240
    name        = "vol1"
  }

  networks {
    network = "default"
    modes   = ["MODE_IPV4"]
  }
}

# Enterprise instance (multi-zone)
resource "google_filestore_instance" "enterprise" {
  name     = "my-enterprise-filestore"
  location = "us-central1"
  tier     = "ENTERPRISE"

  file_shares {
    capacity_gb = 1024
    name        = "vol1"
  }

  networks {
    network = "default"
    modes   = ["MODE_IPV4"]
  }
}

Update Instance

# Resize file share
gcloud filestore instances update my-filestore \
  --zone=us-central1-a \
  --file-share=name=vol1,capacity=2TB

# Update labels
gcloud filestore instances update my-filestore \
  --zone=us-central1-a \
  --update-labels=env=staging

# Update description
gcloud filestore instances update my-filestore \
  --zone=us-central1-a \
  --description="Updated description"

List and Describe

# List instances
gcloud filestore instances list

# Describe instance
gcloud filestore instances describe my-filestore \
  --zone=us-central1-a

# Get IP address
gcloud filestore instances describe my-filestore \
  --zone=us-central1-a \
  --format="value(networks[0].ipAddresses[0])"

Delete Instance

# Delete instance
gcloud filestore instances delete my-filestore \
  --zone=us-central1-a

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Mounting File Shares

Mount on Linux

# Install NFS client
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nfs-common

# Create mount point
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/filestore

# Get Filestore IP
FILESTORE_IP=$(gcloud filestore instances describe my-filestore \
  --zone=us-central1-a \
  --format="value(networks[0].ipAddresses[0])")

# Mount file share
sudo mount -t nfs ${FILESTORE_IP}:/vol1 /mnt/filestore

# Verify mount
df -h /mnt/filestore

# Test write
echo "Hello Filestore" | sudo tee /mnt/filestore/test.txt

Persistent Mount

# Add to /etc/fstab
echo "${FILESTORE_IP}:/vol1 /mnt/filestore nfs defaults,_netdev 0 0" | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

# Test fstab
sudo mount -a

# Verify
df -h /mnt/filestore

Mount Options

# Mount with specific options
sudo mount -t nfs \
  -o rw,hard,intr,timeo=600,retrans=2,_netdev \
  ${FILESTORE_IP}:/vol1 /mnt/filestore

Recommended mount options: - rw: Read-write access - hard: Hard mount (recommended) - intr: Allow interruption - timeo=600: Timeout (60 seconds) - retrans=2: Retransmission attempts - _netdev: Wait for network

Mount on Windows

# Enable NFS client
Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName ServicesForNFS-ClientOnly

# Mount file share
mount -o anon \\FILESTORE_IP\vol1 Z:

# Verify
dir Z:

Startup Script

#!/bin/bash
# startup-script.sh

# Install NFS client
apt-get update
apt-get install -y nfs-common

# Create mount point
mkdir -p /mnt/filestore

# Get Filestore IP from metadata
FILESTORE_IP="10.0.0.2"  # Replace with actual IP

# Mount file share
mount -t nfs ${FILESTORE_IP}:/vol1 /mnt/filestore

# Add to fstab
echo "${FILESTORE_IP}:/vol1 /mnt/filestore nfs defaults,_netdev 0 0" >> /etc/fstab

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Backups

Create Backup

# Create backup
gcloud filestore backups create my-backup \
  --instance=my-filestore \
  --instance-zone=us-central1-a \
  --file-share=vol1 \
  --region=us-central1

# Create backup with description
gcloud filestore backups create my-backup \
  --instance=my-filestore \
  --instance-zone=us-central1-a \
  --file-share=vol1 \
  --region=us-central1 \
  --description="Daily backup"

Backup Schedule

# Create backup schedule (via console or API)
# Automated backups not yet available via gcloud

Restore from Backup

# Create instance from backup
gcloud filestore instances create restored-filestore \
  --zone=us-central1-a \
  --tier=BASIC_HDD \
  --file-share=name=vol1,capacity=1TB,source-backup=my-backup \
  --network=name=default

Backup Management

# List backups
gcloud filestore backups list --region=us-central1

# Describe backup
gcloud filestore backups describe my-backup --region=us-central1

# Delete backup
gcloud filestore backups delete my-backup --region=us-central1

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Performance

Performance Characteristics

Basic HDD:

Throughput: 180 MB/s read, 120 MB/s write
IOPS: 60,000 read, 40,000 write
Latency: <1ms

Basic SSD:

Throughput: 480 MB/s read, 350 MB/s write
IOPS: 60,000 read, 40,000 write
Latency: <1ms

High Scale SSD:

Throughput: 1,200 MB/s read/write
IOPS: 100,000 read/write
Latency: <1ms

Performance Testing

# Install fio
sudo apt-get install fio

# Sequential read test
fio --name=seqread --rw=read --bs=1M --size=1G \
  --numjobs=1 --directory=/mnt/filestore

# Sequential write test
fio --name=seqwrite --rw=write --bs=1M --size=1G \
  --numjobs=1 --directory=/mnt/filestore

# Random read test
fio --name=randread --rw=randread --bs=4k --size=1G \
  --numjobs=4 --directory=/mnt/filestore

# Random write test
fio --name=randwrite --rw=randwrite --bs=4k --size=1G \
  --numjobs=4 --directory=/mnt/filestore

Performance Optimization

✅ Use appropriate tier for workload
✅ Use multiple clients for higher throughput
✅ Use appropriate mount options
✅ Optimize file sizes
✅ Use parallel operations
✅ Monitor performance metrics
✅ Use High Scale for extreme performance
✅ Consider Enterprise for HA

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High Availability

Enterprise Tier

# Create Enterprise instance (multi-zone)
gcloud filestore instances create ha-filestore \
  --region=us-central1 \
  --tier=ENTERPRISE \
  --file-share=name=vol1,capacity=1TB \
  --network=name=default

Benefits: - Multi-zone replication - Automatic failover - 99.99% availability SLA - No data loss on zone failure

Limitations: - Higher cost - 1-10 TB capacity range - Regional deployment only

Backup Strategy

# Regular backups
gcloud filestore backups create daily-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d) \
  --instance=my-filestore \
  --instance-zone=us-central1-a \
  --file-share=vol1 \
  --region=us-central1

# Cross-region backup (manual)
# 1. Create backup in source region
# 2. Copy data to Cloud Storage
# 3. Restore in target region

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Security

Network Security

# Create instance in custom VPC
gcloud filestore instances create secure-filestore \
  --zone=us-central1-a \
  --tier=BASIC_HDD \
  --file-share=name=vol1,capacity=1TB \
  --network=name=my-vpc

# Use VPC firewall rules
gcloud compute firewall-rules create allow-nfs \
  --network=my-vpc \
  --allow=tcp:2049,tcp:111,udp:2049,udp:111 \
  --source-ranges=10.0.0.0/8 \
  --target-tags=filestore-client

Access Control

NFS permissions:

# Set permissions on mount
sudo chmod 755 /mnt/filestore

# Set ownership
sudo chown user:group /mnt/filestore

# Create directory with permissions
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/filestore/shared
sudo chmod 770 /mnt/filestore/shared
sudo chown :developers /mnt/filestore/shared

Encryption

• Encryption at rest (automatic)
• Encryption in transit (NFS over TLS not yet supported)
• Use VPN or Interconnect for secure transit

IAM Permissions

# Grant Filestore admin role
gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding PROJECT_ID \
  --member="user:user@example.com" \
  --role="roles/file.editor"

# Grant Filestore viewer role
gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding PROJECT_ID \
  --member="user:user@example.com" \
  --role="roles/file.viewer"

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Cost Optimization

Pricing Comparison

Monthly cost for 1 TB: - Basic HDD: $200 - Basic SSD: $300 - High Scale SSD: $600 - Enterprise: $350

Optimization Strategies

✅ Choose appropriate tier
✅ Right-size capacity
✅ Delete unused instances
✅ Use Basic HDD when possible
✅ Monitor utilization
✅ Use committed use discounts
✅ Implement lifecycle policies
✅ Regular capacity reviews

Cost Example

Scenario: 2 TB shared file storage

Option 1: Basic HDD
- Cost: 2000 GB × $0.20 = $400/month

Option 2: Basic SSD
- Cost: 2560 GB × $0.30 = $768/month
- Use only if performance needed

Option 3: Cloud Storage (not NFS)
- Cost: 2000 GB × $0.020 = $40/month
- But no NFS protocol support

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Best Practices

Performance

✅ Use appropriate tier for workload
✅ Use multiple clients for higher throughput
✅ Use recommended mount options
✅ Monitor performance metrics
✅ Optimize file operations
✅ Use parallel operations
✅ Test performance before production

Reliability

✅ Use Enterprise tier for critical data
✅ Implement regular backups
✅ Test restore procedures
✅ Monitor instance health
✅ Use multiple mount points
✅ Implement retry logic
✅ Plan for disaster recovery

Security

✅ Use custom VPC
✅ Implement firewall rules
✅ Use IAM for access control
✅ Set appropriate file permissions
✅ Enable audit logging
✅ Regular security audits
✅ Use VPN for remote access

Cost Management

✅ Right-size capacity
✅ Use appropriate tier
✅ Delete unused instances
✅ Monitor utilization
✅ Implement lifecycle policies
✅ Regular cost reviews
✅ Use committed use discounts

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Troubleshooting

Mount Issues

# Check NFS client
sudo systemctl status nfs-client.target

# Check connectivity
ping FILESTORE_IP

# Check NFS ports
telnet FILESTORE_IP 2049

# Check mount
mount | grep filestore

# Remount
sudo umount /mnt/filestore
sudo mount -t nfs FILESTORE_IP:/vol1 /mnt/filestore

Performance Issues

# Check mount options
mount | grep filestore

# Test performance
fio --name=test --rw=read --bs=1M --size=1G \
  --directory=/mnt/filestore

# Check network
iperf3 -c FILESTORE_IP

Permission Issues

# Check permissions
ls -la /mnt/filestore

# Fix permissions
sudo chmod 755 /mnt/filestore
sudo chown user:group /mnt/filestore

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Next Steps

• Storage Comparison - Detailed comparison
• Best Practices - Production guidelines

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Last Updated: March 2026
Status: ✅ Complete