A Closer Look at My Google Cloud Bill
source: cloud.google.com
I have written an article titled Some Global Cloud Platforms. Recently, I gained more experience with Google Cloud.
I needed a proxy server to use as a VPN to connect to networks that are blocked by the GFW. I hadn’t tried Google Cloud before, so I decided to test it. You can use an OCBC credit card to get $200 in credits. However, for some reason, sometimes your spending won’t be counted against your credits, but instead charged as actual spending.
In the latest month, I spent around 75 SGD on Google Cloud. This was basically for just one compute engine instance (1 vCPU, 1 10GB disk, Jurong West, Singapore).
I have used Digital Ocean for a long time. It is much cheaper. It only costs 6 USD per month for a Droplet (1 vCPU, 1GB Memory, 25GB SSD, Singapore).
However, after using Google Cloud’s pricing calculator, I realized that the issue might be with Outline. I used Outline Manager to set up the proxy server.
The machine type is an important factor. I need to do more research on this.
Update:
For an e2-micro instance (2 vCPU, 1 GB memory, 10 GB disk) in Singapore, it costs just 7.98 SGD per month. Outline Manager works well. The reason I ended up wasting 75 SGD on Google Cloud was likely because I initially set up 4 or 5 servers. Later, I discovered that the charges couldn’t be deducted from the credits. Although I stopped the servers, the bills had already been generated, which ended up costing me money.
By the way, instead of checking the current machine type and manually selecting the same machine type and region on the machine creation page, you can use the “Create Similar” button to quickly view the monthly cost for that machine.