With the introduction of Blockchain Node Engine on Google Cloud, which hosts and instals fully managed blockchain nodes in the cloud, Google is making it simpler for Web3 developers to start developing distributed blockchain apps. The ease of setting up a node and the speed of deployment, according to Google, are some advantages of its service.

Additionally, it offers DDoS defence and the option to place nodes behind a firewall, which both increase security. It also provides service-level agreements because it is a fully managed offering.

The first network that will be supported by Blockchain Node Engine's fully managed node-hosting for Web3 development is Ethereum (ETH). As a result, Ethereum nodes that are fully managed and have secure access to the blockchain will be made available by blockchain developers.

The deployment of a compute instance, the installation of an Ethereum client (such as geth), and the waiting period for the node to sync with the network are required when manually deploying a node, according to Google. A full node may require many days to sync with the first block (i.e., 'genesis').

By enabling developers to install a new node in a single action and choose the location and network, Google Cloud's Blockchain Node Engine seeks to expedite and streamline this process (mainnet, testnet). The engine offers security options that may help keep nodes safe from unauthorised access. This line states that when nodes are deployed behind a Virtual Private Cloud firewall, only trusted users and machines may connect with client endpoints.

Additionally, since it is a fully managed service, there is no need to worry about the accessibility of Blockchain Node Engine. Google Cloud keeps an eye on the nodes and, if anything goes wrong, 'restarts them during outages as needed.'

Blockchain Node Engine, according to Google Cloud, 'reduces the requirement for a specialised DevOps staff' and 'offers Google Cloud's service level agreement (SLA),' allowing organisations to focus more on users rather than infrastructure.

While directly providing node services to businesses may be a novel concept, Google has long hosted blockchain nodes. But before, it employed a different tactic. In the cases of the Flow and Theta blockchains as well as the Hedera DLT, it collaborated with the network founders.