In this section, we will explore the fundamental concepts of projects and billing in Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Understanding these concepts is crucial for managing resources, controlling costs, and ensuring that your GCP environment is organized and efficient.

• Definition: A project in GCP is a container for all your GCP resources. It helps you organize and manage your resources, such as virtual machines, databases, and storage buckets.
• Unique Identifier: Each project has a unique project ID and project number.
• Isolation: Projects provide isolation between different environments (e.g., development, testing, production).
• Permissions: You can set permissions at the project level to control who can access and manage the resources within the project.

• Billing Account: A billing account is linked to one or more projects and is used to pay for the resources consumed by those projects.
• Billing Reports: GCP provides detailed billing reports that help you track your spending and understand your cost drivers.
• Budgets and Alerts: You can set budgets and alerts to monitor your spending and receive notifications when you approach or exceed your budget.

1. Navigate to the GCP Console: Go to the GCP Console.
2. Select or Create a Project: Click on the project dropdown in the top navigation bar and select "New Project".
3. Enter Project Details: Provide a name for your project, select a billing account, and choose a location (optional).
4. Create: Click the "Create" button to create your new project.

• Viewing Projects: You can view all your projects in the GCP Console by clicking on the project dropdown.
• Switching Projects: To switch between projects, use the project dropdown in the top navigation bar.
• Deleting Projects: To delete a project, navigate to the "IAM & Admin" section, select "Manage Resources", and choose the project you want to delete. Click the "Delete" button and confirm the deletion.

1. Navigate to Billing: Go to the Billing section in the GCP Console.
2. Create or Select a Billing Account: If you don't have a billing account, create one by following the prompts. If you already have a billing account, select it.
3. Link to Project: Link your billing account to your project by selecting the project and associating it with the billing account.

• Billing Dashboard: The billing dashboard provides an overview of your spending, including charts and graphs that show your cost trends.
• Cost Breakdown: You can view a detailed breakdown of your costs by service, project, and resource.
• Setting Budgets and Alerts: In the billing section, you can set budgets and configure alerts to notify you when your spending approaches or exceeds your budget.

1. Create a New Project: Follow the steps outlined above to create a new project in the GCP Console.
2. Link a Billing Account: Link your new project to an existing billing account or create a new billing account if necessary.
3. Set a Budget: Set a budget for your project and configure alerts to monitor your spending.

1. Create a New Project:

   • Navigate to the GCP Console.
   • Click on the project dropdown and select "New Project".
   • Enter the project name, select a billing account, and click "Create".

2. Link a Billing Account:

   • Go to the Billing section in the GCP Console.
   • Select your billing account or create a new one.
   • Link the billing account to your new project.

3. Set a Budget:

   • In the Billing section, go to "Budgets & alerts".
   • Click "Create budget".
   • Set your budget amount and configure alerts.

In this section, we covered the essential concepts of projects and billing in GCP. We learned how to create and manage projects, link billing accounts, and set budgets and alerts to monitor spending. Understanding these concepts is crucial for effectively managing your GCP resources and controlling costs. In the next module, we will dive into the core GCP services, starting with Compute Engine.