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Cloud SQL

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Fully managed relational database service for MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server.

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•Google Cloud Platform

Fully managed relational database service for MySQL, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server.

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What is Cloud SQL?

Google Cloud SQL is a fully managed database service that automates provisioning, patch management, automated backups, point-in-time recovery, and high-availability failover for MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Microsoft SQL Server. It integrates seamlessly with Cloud Run, GKE, and Compute Engine using the Cloud SQL Auth Proxy for secure, zero-cert connection pooling.

Decision Guide: When to Choose This Service

When to Use Cloud SQL

Use Cloud SQL for traditional relational database workloads (OLTP) requiring ACID transactions, complex SQL joins, foreign keys, stored procedures, and out-of-the-box compatibility with existing MySQL, Postgres, or SQL Server applications.

When NOT to Use (Recommended Alternatives)

Do NOT use Cloud SQL for global multi-region write scalability (use Cloud Spanner) or massive analytical scanning queries over terabytes of data (use BigQuery).

Core Architectural Pillars

Supported Engines

PostgreSQL (with pgvector for AI embeddings), MySQL, and SQL Server.

High Availability (HA)

Multi-zone synchronous regional disk replication with automatic failover.

Cloud SQL Auth Proxy

Local background client utility that establishes secure IAM-authenticated TLS tunnels without managing SSL certificates.

Read Replicas

Offload read-heavy query traffic horizontally across up to 30 read replicas (including cross-region replicas for DR).

Automated Backups & Point-in-Time Recovery (PITR)

Continuous WAL archiving enables restoring to any exact second within the retention window (up to 35 days).