Google’s computing power is now available to rent with the company’s Google Compute Engine expanding beyond its current online services of email, word processing, spreadsheets or simple cloud storage space.
That means Google customers can access their applications and files from a variety of computers and systems, writes Google Manager Ari Balogh in a blog. The service is available around the clock, seven days a week and provides a 99.95 per cent guarantee against service disruptions.
The service was first mentioned during a developer’s conference in the summer of 2012 by Google manager Urs Hoelzle, but has so far only been available to a small group of beta testers.
It’s seen as a response to Amazon’s cloud services EC2 and S3, as well as those from Microsoft, VMWare and Oracle.