Running Hugo on Firebase
Firebase
In my last blog on this topic I discussed how I switched from jekyll to Hugo. I also talked about hosting from a static S3 bucket, which is how I did things when I was at AWS. I tried to duplicate the same thing on Google Cloud, and it did not work out nearly as well.
“Why not”, you ask?
Well, it did technically work, but it was not optimal. Replicating the same architecture on a different cloud provider is not always a good decision. Each cloud provider has its own products, each with unique strengths and weaknesses.
The cost of running a static blog directly on GCP turned out to be too costly for me. It was not breaking the bank at about $20/month, but that is more than I wanted to spend on a low-volume blog.
Alternatives:
- blogger. This is an older product purchased by Google easily over 20 years ago. However, it is free, and very easy to use.
- Firebase hosting
I decided to use Firebase Hosting. While not free, it is extremely inexpensive. Firebase is extensible and powerful - aimed at teams building web/mobile apps. If I ever want to run my own database or set up something like data sync for a mobile app, it will be easy to do with Firebase.
Use Cloud Native to your advantage
I am so happy I simply did not replicate my old architecture on GCP. After some research, I stumbled upon an excellent product at a reasonable price. Google’s focus is much more Developer centric than AWS. By taking advantage of their strength in this area, I was able to leverage their platform that much more effectively. It is a good lesson, regardless of which cloud platform you are on.