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Google Cloud Storage Nearline vs Microsoft Azure Block Storage comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 1, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Google Cloud Storage Nearline
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
12th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Azure Block Storage
Ranking in Public Cloud Storage Services
11th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Public Cloud Storage Services category, the mindshare of Google Cloud Storage Nearline is 10.6%, up from 5.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is 0.8%, down from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Public Cloud Storage Services
 

Featured Reviews

AmitKumar36 - PeerSpot reviewer
Flexible, seamless, and scalable document storage with AI and analytics integration, providing reliable support
The solution is very flexible in terms of scalability. It is an online service, so we can scale it anytime with some pre-planning. I rate the scalability a nine out of ten. As for the users using this solution in our organization, that varies according to what time of the day and what day it is, but it goes around 2,000 to 3,000 users. The maximum is about 3,000. On average, it stays somewhere between 2,000 and 1,800.
MatsHagberg Olsson2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Empowers secure data management with affordable tools and minimal hassle
The most valuable feature is that it's very affordable in comparison to competitors. The absolute best feature is the Azure Storage Explorer tool. The tool allows me to download to my device, control access, and manage data with ease. Additionally, the joint use of Azure portal further facilitates management depending on my location.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Google is always introducing new features and tends to have a new release every month."
"The capacity and space on offer are excellent."
"The most valuable aspect of Google Cloud Storage Nearline is its integration with the wider Google Cloud ecosystem."
"The most valuable feature of Nearline is the access. It's helpful to move data that is generated once a month, such as salary information, to Nearline."
"I find the flexibility in storing documents or data and the ease of retrieval valuable with this solution."
"It provides the necessary support and flexibility to manage data storage effectively, especially during times of variable data flow."
"The data structure and the types of data that are supported are very good."
"The most valuable aspect of Google Cloud Storage Nearline is its integration with the wider Google Cloud ecosystem."
"Storing and then retrieving data are the most valuable features of Microsoft Azure Block Storage."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is the backing up of files."
"The solution has introduced cool-tier storage that allows us to store and save data."
"The ability to increase and scale out is really easy."
"It has capabilities such as versioning and, from a security point of view, you can also back it up."
"The price is decent. I rate Azure Block Storage eight out of 10 for affordability."
"The data lake is invaluable. We also use Microsoft SQL in terms of structuring the data and getting into a position where it could be useful to support reporting. We Databricks for data science. We incorporated Databricks with that as well."
"The initial setup for the production areas was on premise, which is very simple."
 

Cons

"The suggestion for improvement primarily revolves around cost efficiency."
"Nearline security could be better. The solution could integrate better with SEIM tools."
"One area that needs improvement is the documentation, which I find to be disorganized and not user-friendly."
"The pricing is quite high."
"The UI could be a little bit more effective."
"The interface for managing file storage in the buckets could be improved."
"They should provide more options or flexibility in terms of pricing."
"The solution needs to offer better System Information and Event Management (SEIM). I'd like to discover how we could implement something like that within Google's cloud."
"Support is an area where improvements can be made, particularly in response time for enterprise support."
"The solution could use a couple of security features."
"The initial setup of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is more complex than Google Drive, but it is still not too difficult."
"It has been a couple of years since I contacted support. However, at that time, it was difficult to get someone on the call even though it was an issue of high severity."
"The product is not as stable as we would like it to be."
"In terms of improvement, it could use better integration with non-propriety tools. Azure pushes you down a data factory road for integrations but data factory isn't always a scalable, viable solution, particularly when using large numbers ofconnections to IoT solutions."
"The integrations right now are limited, however, we are hopeful this will improve as the cloud continues to develop."
"The solution’s user interface could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Google Cloud Storage Nearline is very inexpensive. It costs us less than $50 a month to store our files. We use approximately 10 terabytes. Overall, I would rate the product a five out of five for affordability."
"Right now, for the number of servers and the storage that I have, I would say I'm charged between $125 and $150 per month."
"I would rate the solution’s pricing a nine out of ten and it’s cheaper than Amazon S3."
"The storage part costs us $223. That's on a monthly basis for 20TB of data storage."
"The price of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is expensive. They should provide a more efficient cost."
"I rate the product price as seven on a scale of one to ten, where one means low price and ten means high price. The tool is expensive. There are no additional costs attached to the product, so it is available at a fixed price."
"I would rate the pricing as five out of ten."
"The solution requires an input-output operations fee as well as pay per gigabyte of storage."
"The price of Microsoft Azure Block Storage could be less expensive."
"The product's pricing is reasonable, but premium applications can be costly."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
7%
Computer Software Company
21%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Google Cloud Storage Nearline?
The most valuable feature of Nearline is the access. It's helpful to move data that is generated once a month, such as salary information, to Nearline.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Cloud Storage Nearline?
From a pricing standpoint, Google Cloud Storage Nearline is more expensive compared to some alternatives like Amazon. I would rate the pricing at five on a scale of one to ten.
What needs improvement with Google Cloud Storage Nearline?
One area that needs improvement is the documentation, which I find to be disorganized and not user-friendly. The lack of comprehensive walkthrough guides for specific use cases makes it difficult t...
What do you like most about Microsoft Azure Block Storage?
We use the solution to develop SaaS platforms on Azure. We utilize various Microsoft components like block storage and databases for this purpose.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Block Storage?
Pricing could be rated as eight out of ten. It is reasonable, however, it can be cheaper.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure Block Storage?
At the moment, I do not have anything specific in mind for improvements. The most important thing for me is accessibility and easy provisioning to multiple servers with different vendors.
 

Also Known As

No data available
MS Azure Block Storage
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Mazda, BlinkBox, Rakuten Showtime, Xbox One, Serko, ChronoDrive
Find out what your peers are saying about Google Cloud Storage Nearline vs. Microsoft Azure Block Storage and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.