GCP Cost Estimation for VPN in Taipei | Generated by AI

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To estimate the cost of using a Taipei server as a VPN with Google Cloud, considering you live in Guangzhou and expect 50 GB of network data per month using an E2 micro instance, we need to break down the costs into several components: the virtual machine (VM) instance, network egress traffic, and the persistent disk storage. Here’s a detailed calculation based on Google Cloud’s pricing for the asia-east1 region (Taipei), where your server will be hosted.

1. VM Instance Cost (E2 Micro in Taipei)

The E2 micro is a shared-core machine type with 0.25 vCPU and 1 GB of memory. According to Google Cloud’s pricing for Compute Engine in the asia-east1 region:

So, running the E2 micro instance continuously for a month costs approximately $6.13.

2. Network Egress Traffic Cost

Since you’re using the Taipei server as a VPN from Guangzhou, your setup involves running a VPN server (e.g., OpenVPN) on the E2 micro instance, not Google Cloud’s Cloud VPN service. Your 50 GB of monthly network data represents the total traffic processed through the VPN. Here’s how the traffic flows:

If your 50 GB refers to the total VPN tunnel traffic (data sent from your device plus data received back), the egress traffic billed by Google Cloud includes:

Assuming the 50 GB is the total data transferred (e.g., you send requests and receive responses, like browsing or streaming), the total egress traffic is approximately 50 GB. This simplifies the estimation, as the exact split between sent and received data depends on usage (e.g., streaming has more received data, while uploads have more sent data). For general internet usage, we’ll treat the 50 GB as the total egress.

Google Cloud charges for internet egress based on the source region (asia-east1 for Taipei):

Thus, the network egress cost is approximately $6.00 per month.

3. Persistent Disk Cost

The E2 micro instance requires a boot disk. While Google Cloud’s free tier offers 30 GB of standard persistent disk storage in certain US regions, Taipei (asia-east1) is not included, so you’ll incur charges:

The persistent disk adds $1.20 per month.

4. External IP Address

Your VPN server needs an external IP address to be accessible from Guangzhou. For Compute Engine VMs:

Since your E2 micro will use the external IP, this cost is included in the VM price.

Total Estimated Cost

Adding up all components:

Total: $6.13 + $6.00 + $1.20 = $13.33 per month.

Additional Notes

Final Answer

The estimated cost of using a Taipei server (asia-east1) as a VPN on Google Cloud with an E2 micro instance, 50 GB of monthly network data, and a 30 GB disk is approximately $13.33 per month. This includes the VM instance ($6.13), egress traffic to the internet and your device ($6.00), and the persistent disk ($1.20).


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