Ohio State Google Cloud Platform

COMING SOON: Unlock the Power of Google Cloud at Ohio State!

Ohio State’s Google Cloud Platform (GCP) offers university faculty and staff secure, scalable, and cost-effective solutions tailored for university business. From research projects and web hosting to file storage and advanced analytics, GCP empowers innovation with cutting-edge tools. Ready to elevate your work? Explore the possibilities today!

 

Who should use GCP?

Not all workloads and applications are appropriate for cloud services like GCP. Consult with your local IT professionals and Security Coordinator before requesting an Ohio State GCP project.

All Google Cloud customers can use select Google Cloud products—like Compute Engine, Cloud Storage, and BigQuery—free of charge, within specified monthly usage limits. Ohio State Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is for users who need functionality that goes beyond the free tier offerings. In addition, Google Workspaces is exclude from Ohio State GCP.

Researchers with NIST 800-171 requirements can explore information about which Google Cloud services operate in compliance with NIST standards. 

Employees with a 10% or more affiliation with the Wexne Medical Center must complete the Wexner Medical Center vetting process before requesting a project. Please contact Ben Walters for assistance.

 

What is NOT part of GCP

Since Google is a large enterprise with many free applications offered, it is important to note that GCP does not include free applications such as Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Slides, Google Drawings, and Google Forms. These applications are still prohibited for use with institutional data due to security concerns.

Ohio State’s subscription to Google Cloud Platform has been assessed, and we determined that it offers adequate security for some institutional data. GCP includes advanced compute services, storage and database services, networking services, big data and analytics services, machine learning and AI services, management and developer tools and security and identity services.

Getting Started

Request a New Ohio State GCP Project: Refer to the Ohio State GCP Readiness Checklist (coming soon) for instructions. Please note that a university billing project worktags must be issued and approved to pay monthly GCP charges. We are not able to accommodate use of credit cards for this service. To help you get started, we have also provided The Successful Six for Cloud Platform Services, which outlines six things you should do before using Ohio State Google Cloud Platform.

Link An Existing GCP Project: If you signed up for an GCP project through GCP.Google.com and the project meets one or more of the following criteria, then you will need to link your existing project under Ohio State GCP:

  • Your project is used to store or work with Ohio State data
  • Your project is used for Ohio State University business
  • The university pays for the project via purchase order, P-Card, or you receive a reimbursement with university funds.

NOTE: In February 2025, if your GCP project on GCP.Google.com is associated with a university email domain (e.g. @osu.edu), Google Cloud Platform will send an email notification to you on behalf of Ohio State. The email will provide instructions on how to link the project to Ohio State GCP. Please check your spam folder if you do not receive the email. 

The university must manage root access to all Ohio State GCP projects, including projects obtained through GCP.Google.com being used for university business. OTDI will have limited access to all projects.

Pricing and Billing

In GCP, you only pay for what you use. To get started, first figure out how you want to run your application in Cloud. Then use the GCP Price Calculator to estimate the cost. 

The Ohio State GCP pricing listed reflects the amount that will be charged back to your department. OTDI does not charge additional administrative fees for these services. 

Resources