Starting with V1.0, Cloud Storage FUSE is Generally Available and supported by Google, provided that it is used within its documented supported applications, platforms, and limits. Support requests, feature requests, and general questions should be submitted as a support request via Google Cloud support channels or via GitHub here.
Cloud Storage FUSE is open source software, released under the Apache license.
Cloud Storage FUSE V2 provides important stability, functionality, and performance enhancements, including the introduction of a file cache that allows repeat file reads to be served from a local, faster cache storage of choice, such as a Local SSD, Persistent Disk, or even in-memory /tmpfs. The Cloud Storage FUSE file cache makes AI/ML training faster and more cost-effective by reducing the time spent waiting for data, with up to 2.3x faster training time and 3.4x higher throughput observed in training runs. This is especially valuable for multi epoch training and can serve small and random I/O operations significantly faster. The file cache feature is disabled by default and is enabled by passing a directory to 'cache-dir'. See overview of caching for more details.
Cloud Storage FUSE is an open source FUSE adapter that lets you mount and access Cloud Storage buckets as local file systems. For a technical overview of Cloud Storage FUSE, see https://cloud.google.com/storage/docs/gcs-fuse.
To learn about the benefits of using Cloud Storage FUSE for machine learning projects, see https://cloud.google.com/storage/docs/gcsfuse-integrations#machine-learning.
To learn about limitations and differences between Cloud Storage FUSE and POSIX file systems, see https://cloud.google.com/storage/docs/gcs-fuse#differences-and-limitations.
For information about pricing for Cloud Storage FUSE, see https://cloud.google.com/storage/docs/gcs-fuse#charges.
Using the Cloud Storage FUSE CSI driver, users get the declarative nature of Kubernetes with all infrastructure fully managed by GKE in combination with Cloud Storage. This CSI driver relies on Cloud Storage FUSE to mount Cloud storage buckets as file systems on the GKE nodes, with the Cloud Storage FUSE deployment and management fully handled by GKE, providing a turn-key experience.
To see supported operating system and ML frameworks that have been validated with Cloud Storage FUSE, see here.
You can get support, submit general questions, and request new features by filing issues in GitHub. You can also get support by using one of Google Cloud's official support channels.
See Troubleshooting for common issue handling.
