Cloud Spanner
Future-proof your applications with a no-compromise database
No more relational vs. non-relational. Get high performance and availability at virtually unlimited scale. Remove stress from managing databases with zero-touch maintenance.
Get started with a 90-day Spanner free trial instance.
In addition, new Google Cloud customers get $300 in free credits.
Features
Write and read scalability with no limits
Spanner decouples compute resources from data storage, which makes it possible to transparently scale in and out processing resources. Each additional compute capacity can process both reads and writes, providing effortless horizontal scalability. Spanner optimizes performance by automatically handling the sharding, replication, and transaction processing.
Automated maintenance
Reduce operational costs and improve reliability for any size database. Synchronous replication and maintenance are automatic and built in. 100% online schema changes and maintenance while serving traffic with zero downtime.
PostgreSQL interface
Combine the scalability and reliability of Spanner with the familiarity and portability of a PostgreSQL interface. Use the skills and tools that your teams already know, future-proofing your investment for peace of mind.
Automatic database sharding
Never worry about manually resharding your database again. Built-in sharding automatically distributes data to optimize for performance and availability. Scale up and scale down without interruption.
High-performance, workload-isolated query processing
Cloud Spanner Data Boost enables users to run analytical queries, batch processing jobs, or data export operations faster without affecting the existing transactional workload. Fully managed by Google Cloud, Data Boost does not require capacity planning or management. It is always hot, ready to process user queries directly on data stored in Spanner's distributed storage system, Colossus. This on-demand, independent compute resource lets users easily handle mixed workloads and worry-free data sharing.
Strong transactional consistency
Rely on industry-leading external consistency without compromising on scalability or availability.
Single-region and multi-region configurations
No matter where your users may be, apps backed by Spanner can read and write up-to-date strongly consistent data globally. Additionally, when running a multi-region instance, your database is protected against a regional failure and offers industry-leading 99.999% availability.
Real-time change data capture and replication
Use Datastream to deliver change data from Oracle and MySQL databases into Spanner for up-to-date information. Use Spanner change streams to capture change data from Spanner databases and integrate it with other systems for analytics, event triggering, and compliance.
Granular instance sizing
Start with Spanner with a granular instance for only $65/month and scale it based on your needs without downtime and with no need for re-architecting.
Relational interface
Everything you would expect from a relational database—schemas, SQL queries, and ACID transactions—at any scale. Use Google Standard SQL or a PostgreSQL interface.
AI-powered code assistance
Duet AI in Cloud Spanner helps developers write SQL queries faster. It provides code suggestions to structure, modify, or query your data based on natural language prompts.
Rich application and tool support
Meet development teams where they are with native client libraries for Java/JDBC, Go, Python, C#, Node.js, PHP, Ruby, and C++ as well as the most popular ORMs, including Hibernate and Entity Framework.
Observability
Monitor performance of Spanner databases with metrics and stats. Analyze usage patterns in Spanner databases with Key Visualizer, an interactive monitoring tool. Use query insights for troubleshooting query performance issues and quickly diagnose lock contention issues with lock insights and transaction insights.
Enterprise-grade security and controls
Customer-managed encryption keys (CMEK), data-layer encryption, IAM integration for access and controls, and comprehensive audit logging. Support for VPC-SC, Access Transparency, and Access Approval. Fine-grained access control lets you authorize access to Spanner data at the table and column level.
Database comparison
| Database attribute | Other Relational DB | Other Non-relational DB | Cloud Spanner |
|---|---|---|---|
Schema | Static | Dynamic | Dynamic |
SQL | Yes | No | Yes |
Transactions | ACID (atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) | Eventual | Strong-ACID with TrueTime ordering |
Scalability | Vertical (use a bigger machine) | Horizontal (add more machines) | Horizontal |
Availability | Failover (downtime) | High | High 99.999% SLA |
Replication | Configurable | Configurable | Automatic |
Schema
Static
Dynamic
Dynamic
SQL
Yes
No
Yes
Transactions
ACID
(atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability)
Eventual
Strong-ACID
with TrueTime ordering
Scalability
Vertical
(use a bigger machine)
Horizontal
(add more machines)
Horizontal
Availability
Failover (downtime)
High
High 99.999% SLA
Replication
Configurable
Configurable
Automatic
How It Works
Cloud Spanner instances provide compute and storage in one or more regions. A distributed clock called TrueTime guarantees transactions are strongly consistent even across regions. Data is automatically "split" for scalability and replicated using a synchronous, Paxos-based scheme for availability.
Common Uses
User profile and entitlements
Manage critical user data securely at any scale
User profile management is a critical function that requires Spanner's scalability, availability, and global consistency. It is the entry point for players across games, platforms, and regions. Similarly financial services companies manage customer information and product offerings using Spanner.
Tutorials, quickstarts, & labs
Manage critical user data securely at any scale
User profile management is a critical function that requires Spanner's scalability, availability, and global consistency. It is the entry point for players across games, platforms, and regions. Similarly financial services companies manage customer information and product offerings using Spanner.
Financial ledger
Gain up-to-date, consistent view of global transactions
Unify financial transactions, trades, settlements, and positions across the globe into a consolidated trade ledger built on Cloud Spanner that guarantees external consistency and scalability. Consolidation of data helps in quickly adapting to changing market conditions and regulatory requirements. Similarly retail/ecommerce businesses use Spanner for inventory ledger.
Tutorials, quickstarts, & labs
Gain up-to-date, consistent view of global transactions
Unify financial transactions, trades, settlements, and positions across the globe into a consolidated trade ledger built on Cloud Spanner that guarantees external consistency and scalability. Consolidation of data helps in quickly adapting to changing market conditions and regulatory requirements. Similarly retail/ecommerce businesses use Spanner for inventory ledger.
Online banking
Deliver always-on interactivity for digital experiences
Consumers expect access to their critical financial data on their devices outside of regular banking hours. Allow your developers to focus on new experiences rather than operational overhead, such as manual sharding or eventual consistency. Reduce risk and downtime with 99.999% availability and zero maintenance.
Tutorials, quickstarts, & labs
Deliver always-on interactivity for digital experiences
Consumers expect access to their critical financial data on their devices outside of regular banking hours. Allow your developers to focus on new experiences rather than operational overhead, such as manual sharding or eventual consistency. Reduce risk and downtime with 99.999% availability and zero maintenance.
Loyalty programs and promotions
Personalize experiences with real-time updates
Track customer participation and preferences in a loyalty program to analyze trends and improve customer satisfaction. Similarly, game companies use Spanner for building personalized leaderboards in games.
Tutorials, quickstarts, & labs
Personalize experiences with real-time updates
Track customer participation and preferences in a loyalty program to analyze trends and improve customer satisfaction. Similarly, game companies use Spanner for building personalized leaderboards in games.
Omni-channel inventory management
Provide a consistent view across multiple channels and apps
Spanner provides a high performance, single source of truth for retail inventory and orders across online, in-store, distribution centers, and shipping to match inventory with demand, improving customer experience and profitability. Game companies similarly use Spanner to store in-game inventory data.
Tutorials, quickstarts, & labs
Provide a consistent view across multiple channels and apps
Spanner provides a high performance, single source of truth for retail inventory and orders across online, in-store, distribution centers, and shipping to match inventory with demand, improving customer experience and profitability. Game companies similarly use Spanner to store in-game inventory data.
Pricing
| How Spanner pricing works | Spanner pricing is based on compute capacity, database storage, backup storage, and network usage. Committed use discounts reduce the price further. | |
|---|---|---|
| Service | Description | |