In the last lesson, we saw how Cloud SQL can be used for lifting and shifting the existing on-premises relational database server. We have also learnt about the limitation of CloudSQL. So, in this lesson, we will look at Cloud Spanner which is the upgrade to the CloudSQL. Cloud Spanner combines the best of relational DB’s feature with the benefits of sharding and horizontal scaling. So, let’s start exploring Cloud Spanner.

Introduction

Cloud Spanner is a fully managed relational database with unlimited scale, strong consistency, and up to 99.999% availability. Unlike CloudSQL, Cloud Spanner provides an in-browser query interface where you can query data.

Cloud Spanner is much like CloudSQL in most of the aspects however, the Spanner is more powerful. So, let’s see how exactly Cloud Spanner works.

Architecture and working

Behind the scenes, Spanner separates the compute and storage and allow them to scale independently. From the compute and storage, we have control over compute power meaning we can select how much compute power we need by providing the number of instances.

Get hands-on with 1400+ tech skills courses.