Google Cloud Migration Center vs Google Compute Engine

Google Cloud Migration Center helps plan moves from on-premises systems or other cloud environments to Google Cloud. It estimates future Google Cloud costs from existing resource sizes and configurations, and can inventory servers and Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, and PostgreSQL databases. Assessments can report total cost of ownership, show application and network dependencies, and suggest destinations based on technical fit. Planning tools offer guidance on what to move and how, including rehost, replatform, and refactor strategies. Infrastructure information can be collected automatically once or continuously, or imported manually. Documented discovery covers AWS assets, Azure virtual machines in preview, and on-premises servers and virtual machines. A Linux and Windows discovery client can create offline reports without sending sensitive data to Google Cloud; the installed client itself runs only on Windows and does not discover databases. The service says it does not collect application or file-storage data. Estimates and assessments cost nothing, though other Google Cloud products may incur charges.

Google Compute Engine is an infrastructure-as-a-service product for running self-managed virtual machines on Google infrastructure. Choose a predefined machine type or configure a custom VM with 1 to 96 vCPUs and up to 8.0 GB of memory per core. Linux and Windows VMs are supported, with images including Debian, Ubuntu, FreeBSD, and Windows Server. Storage options include Persistent Disk and Local SSD. Managed instance groups can add VMs for peak load and replace underperforming instances; live migration can move a VM to another host in the same zone when its host goes down. Confidential VMs encrypt data in use, while Shielded VMs defend against rootkits and bootkits. The service integrates with Cloud Storage, App Engine, and BigQuery, and resources can be controlled through a REST-based API. Its free tier is free, within monthly limits and eligible US regions. Pay-as-you-go pricing is usage-based, with VM resources billed after a one-minute minimum in one-second increments.