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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
64
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Public Cloud Storage Services category, the mindshare of Google Cloud Storage Nearline is 10.6%, up from 5.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is 0.8%, down from 1.3% 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

"The best part of Nearline storage is the ability to take backups at optimal costs and its availability across multiple regions."
"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."
"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 feature of Nearline is the access. It's helpful to move data that is generated once a month, such as salary information, to Nearline."
"The most valuable aspect of Google Cloud Storage Nearline is its integration with the wider Google Cloud ecosystem."
"Nearline is highly stable."
"The scalability is rated at ten out of ten."
"The ease of integration with services like CDN and computing makes it compelling and cost-effective."
"One can easily scale with this program."
"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."
"You can easily access your data whenever you need it."
"This is a very stable solution."
"The most valuable part of Microsoft Azure is its scalability and availability, which make it easy to work with."
"The price is decent. I rate Azure Block Storage eight out of 10 for affordability."
 

Cons

"Nearline security could be better. The solution could integrate better with SEIM tools."
"They should provide more options or flexibility in terms of pricing."
"The UI could be a little bit more effective."
"One area that needs improvement is the documentation, which I find to be disorganized and not user-friendly."
"They need a better, more visual, user interface for folders and files."
"The suggestion for improvement primarily revolves around cost efficiency."
"The pricing is quite high."
"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."
"We cannot properly check the daily cost in the Azure portal."
"The user interface is very difficult."
"There are some space limitations."
"I find the user interface of newer versions, particularly, the flows, not user-friendly. The UI of Azure’s initial version was very comfortable. I didn’t have to remember floor menus. I knew where I had to go to see the logs or grab configuration parameters."
"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 performance could be improved, but all the services in the cloud are improved every week."
"Technical support needs improvement."
"The performance of Microsoft Azure Block Storage needs improvement because it's laggy. Microsoft Azure Block Storage also has a lot of limitations on file sizes. The rendering and loading times also need improvement."
 

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 rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."
"I would rate Azure a three out of ten for pricing."
"Microsoft Azure Block Storage is an expensive solution and I pay monthly."
"Azure Block Storage is higher priced than its competitors."
"The price could be more flexible, and it can be expensive."
"I use Microsoft Azure Block Storage's free version."
"The solution requires an input-output operations fee as well as pay per gigabyte of storage."
"The price of Microsoft Azure Block Storage is expensive. They should provide a more efficient cost."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

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?
The storage and access cost of Nearline are considered optimal compared to other cloud storage solutions, although I lack a clear view of other cloud storage costs.
What needs improvement with Google Cloud Storage Nearline?
From a storage standpoint, it would be beneficial if the retrieval cost could be optimized, as it is comparatively higher than storage costs in Nearline.
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: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.