Cloud HSM
Cloud HSM is a cloud-hosted HSM service that allows you to host encryption keys and perform cryptographic operations in a cluster of FIPS 140-2 Level 3 certified HSMs. The Cloud HSM cluster is managed by Google for you; you do not get access to the physical device. You also do not need to patch or scale it for multi-regional applications. Cloud HSM uses Cloud KMS as its frontend; you use Cloud KMS APIs to interact with the Cloud HSM backend. This abstracts the communication with Cloud HSM, so you do not need to use Cloud HSM-specific code.
When you use HSM-backed keys and key versions, the Google Cloud project that makes the cryptographic request incurs cryptographic operation quota usage, and the Google Cloud project that contains the HSM keys incurs HSM QPM quota usage.
Note
You can find more information on Cloud KMS in the Google Cloud documentation for quotas.
Here are some architectural characteristics of Cloud HSM that you should be aware of:
- The...