GCP for Backend Engineers

Service Map

• Cloud Run: stateless containerized APIs and workers.
• Cloud SQL: managed Postgres, MySQL, or SQL Server.
• Cloud Storage: object storage for media, artifacts, and exports.
• Pub/Sub: async messaging and event fanout.
• Secret Manager: managed secrets.
• Cloud Logging and Monitoring: logs, metrics, alerts, and dashboards.
• Artifact Registry: container image storage.

First Deployment Path

For a FastAPI backend, the simplest path is often:

1. Build a Docker image.
2. Push it to Artifact Registry.
3. Deploy it to Cloud Run.
4. Attach Secret Manager values.
5. Connect to Cloud SQL if relational persistence is required.
6. Add logs, alerts, and rollback notes.

Questions Before Choosing GKE

• Do you need custom scheduling or long-running workers?
• Do you need GPU scheduling inside the cluster?
• Do you need many internal services with service mesh-like concerns?
• Can Cloud Run plus queues handle the workload more simply?

Production Checklist

• Separate projects or environments.
• Least-privilege service accounts.
• No public database exposure.
• Explicit budgets and alerting.
• Rollback tested before launch.