DEV Community

Raghava Chellu
Raghava Chellu

Posted on

AI Meets Managed File Transfer: gcp-mft-ai for Google Cloud Storage, Filestore & STS

Overview

AI-powered Managed File Transfer for Google Cloud (GCS, Filestore, Storage Transfer Service)

gcp-mft-ai is an open-source, production-grade Python library that transforms traditional file transfers on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) into intelligent, ML-optimized, secure operations.

It automates, predicts, protects, and optimizes file movement across:

  • Google Cloud Storage (GCS)
  • Cloud Filestore (NFS-based File System)
  • Storage Transfer Service (STS API)
  • Designed for large-scale enterprises, DevOps engineers, and AI/ML pipelines, gcp-mft-ai brings the future of AI-enhanced Managed File Transfer (MFT) into your cloud workflows.

Features

  • Upload/download large files intelligently
  • AES-256 encryption support
  • Predict transfer time with ML
  • Optimize best transfer windows
  • Detect anomalies in transfer logs

Core Capabilities

Multi-Service MFT: GCS bucket transfers, Filestore filesystem moves, GCP Storage Transfer Service orchestration
Encryption at Source: AES-256-GCM authenticated encryption (optional per transfer)
ML-Based Transfer Time Prediction: Predict upload/download times using Linear Regression or Random Forest models
Anomaly Detection: Identify unusual slowdowns, spikes, or transfer errors automatically using Isolation Forest
Transfer Window Optimization: Find the best network window (hour of day) to minimize congestion and maximize throughput
Resilient Transfers: Automatic retries, resumable uploads for large objects, GCP API throttling handling
Config-Driven Automation: Manage all settings via simple YAML or JSON configuration files

Internal Architecture

GCS Transfers: Built atop the google-cloud-storage SDK for resumable, secure, and reliable object transfers.

Filestore Transfers: Abstracted over NFS filesystem mounts, allowing simple shutil-based secure moves between instances or buckets.

Storage Transfer Service API: Dynamically creates and monitors cloud-to-cloud transfer jobs via authenticated REST API calls (fully IAM compliant).

Prediction Engine:
i) Trained on historical transfer data (file_size_mb, transfer_time_sec)supports
ii) Linear Regression (lightweight, fast)
iii) Random Forest (higher-accuracy, non-linear patterns)

Anomaly Detection: Isolation Forest model isolates unusual file size vs time behavior — flagging spikes, failures, and risks early.

Encryption Layer: AES-256 encryption with GCM mode ensures data integrity and confidentiality before movement.

Optimization Layer: Hour-by-hour analysis of historical transfer speeds to recommend the best operational windows.

Security-First Design

Encryption: Native AES-256-GCM encryption/decryption for any file before or after cloud storage.

Token Management: Secure OAuth2 token usage for Storage Transfer Service API access.

No plaintext secrets: Designed for service account usage via environment or config.

Usage Overview

Upload to GCS: upload_to_gcs(source_path, bucket, destination_path)
Download from GCS: download_from_gcs(blob_name, bucket, destination_path)
Upload to Filestore: upload_to_filestore(source_path, mount_point, relative_path)
Launch Storage Transfer Job: launch_storage_transfer_job(source_bucket, destination_bucket, project_id)
Predict Transfer Time: predict_transfer_time(file_size_mb)
Detect Anomalies: detect_transfer_anomalies(csv_log_path)
Find Best Transfer Window: find_best_transfer_window(csv_log_path)

Real-World Use Cases

Media & Entertainment: Migrate large UHD videos to GCS for editing pipelines
AI/ML Model Training: Transfer terabyte datasets securely and predictably to TPU training zones
Backup & Disaster Recovery: Automate and encrypt cross-region backup uploads with anomaly alerting
Healthcare & Finance: Securely move critical records across cloud environments with end-to-end encryption
Retail Analytics: Optimize massive log file ingestion pipelines to GCP data lakes

Technology Stack

  • Python 3.7+
  • Google Cloud SDKs (google-cloud-storage, requests)
  • Cryptography (AES-256-GCM secure cipher)
  • scikit-learn (ML Models: Linear Regression, Random Forest, Isolation Forest)
  • pandas (Data preparation for ML)
  • pyyaml (Config loading)
  • joblib (Model persistence)

MIT License

Author: Raghava Chellu

MIT License is freely usable for academic, personal, and commercial projects.
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Installation

pip install gcp-mft-ai
Deployment Readiness
PyPI-ready (setup.py, pyproject.toml)

Full unit testing (unittest framework)

Full documentation (README.md, examples/)

Cloud deployment friendly (Docker/CI/CD pipelines)

Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Conclusion

Traditional file transfers are simple. Modern file transfers must be intelligent, secure, and predictive. gcp-mft-ai brings cutting-edge AI and cloud-native automation to Managed File Transfer on Google Cloud securing your data, optimizing your operations, and helping you move smarter, stronger, and faster.

Top comments (0)