Google Cloud Storage pricing within Google Cloud

Question

According to pricing note, Google Cloud Storage does not incur any fee for data transfer within google cloud, within same region.

But when I tried making GKE cluster that pulls image from container registry in same region (I assume container registry uses cloud storage as backend), it still incurred download fee from artifact.* bucket. I suspect this might be because my GKE cluster and container registry in different projects.

Does pricing policy of data transfer within google cloud apply to data transfer between different projects? For example, if GKE cluster in us-west1 region in project A pull image from container registry in US location in project B, does it still incur no fee?

If not, will Private Service Connect or Private Google Access make it free, by making connection private?

I researched tons of google documentation about this but it does not mention any of information I asked above.

Answer 1

As Puteri mentioned, Google Cloud Storage does not incur any charges for data transfer within google cloud, regardless of the projects involved. This includes data transfer between services like cloud storage and container registry within the same region. So, if the data transfer is not between the same location, you may incur charges as per the pricing table, the region is not considered the same location as a multi-region, even if the region is within the geographic limits of a multi-region.

So, if the GKE cluster in the us-west1 region in one project pulls the image from CR located in the US region in another project will incur data transfer fees. Data transfer between the resources in different regions within the Google Cloud typically incur egress charges. Private service connect and Private Google access enhance the security and privacy of your data transfers, the data transfer fees are determined by the regions and projects involved. Even if you utilize these services, data transfer charges would still apply.