Requester pays configuration in GCP - Step-by-Step Execution

Process Flow - Requester pays configuration

Enable Requester Pays on Bucket

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Requester Makes Request

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Check if Requester Pays Enabled

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Requester Pays Cost

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Grant Access if Allowed

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Data Delivered to Requester

This flow shows how enabling Requester Pays on a storage bucket shifts the cost of data access to the requester instead of the bucket owner.

Execution Sample

GCP

gsutil requesterpays set on gs://example-bucket

# Requester accesses data
gsutil -u requester-project ls gs://example-bucket

Enable Requester Pays on a bucket, then requester accesses data paying the cost.

Process Table

Step	Action	Requester Pays Enabled?	Who Pays?	Result
1	Enable Requester Pays on bucket	Yes	Requester	Bucket updated to Requester Pays
2	Requester tries to list bucket contents	Yes	Requester	Request accepted, cost billed to requester project
3	Requester tries to access data without specifying project	Yes	Requester	Request denied, must specify billing project
4	Requester accesses data specifying billing project	Yes	Requester	Data delivered, cost billed to requester project
5	Owner accesses bucket	Yes	Owner	Request accepted, cost billed to owner project
6	Requester tries to access bucket without Requester Pays enabled	No	Owner	Request accepted, cost billed to owner project
7	Requester tries to access bucket with Requester Pays enabled but no billing project	Yes	Requester	Request denied, billing project required

💡 Requests without billing project fail when Requester Pays is enabled; otherwise, requester pays cost.

Status Tracker

Variable	Start	After Step 1	After Step 2	After Step 4	After Step 5	After Step 6
Requester Pays Enabled	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Who Pays	Owner	Requester	Requester	Requester	Owner	Owner
Request Allowed	N/A	N/A	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Key Moments - 2 Insights

Why does the request fail if the requester does not specify a billing project when Requester Pays is enabled?

Because with Requester Pays enabled, the requester must specify a billing project to pay for the request. This is shown in execution_table rows 3 and 7 where requests without billing project are denied.

Who pays the cost when Requester Pays is disabled?

The bucket owner pays the cost when Requester Pays is disabled, as shown in execution_table row 6.

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution_table, at which step does the requester successfully access data with Requester Pays enabled?

A Step 2

B Step 3

C Step 4

D Step 6

💡 Hint

Check the 'Result' column for successful data delivery with Requester Pays enabled.

According to variable_tracker, what is the value of 'Who Pays' after Step 1?

A Requester

B Unknown

C Owner

D No one

💡 Hint

Look at the 'Who Pays' row under 'After Step 1' column.

If Requester Pays is disabled, who pays the cost when a requester accesses the bucket?

A Requester

B Owner

C Both share cost

D No cost

💡 Hint

Refer to execution_table row 6 and variable_tracker 'Who Pays' at 'After Step 6'.

Concept Snapshot

Requester Pays configuration shifts storage access costs to the requester.
Enable with: gsutil requesterpays set on gs://bucket
Requester must specify billing project to access data.
Without billing project, requests fail when enabled.
Owner pays costs if disabled.
Useful for public datasets to avoid owner charges.

Full Transcript

Requester Pays configuration in Google Cloud Storage lets the bucket owner require that the person requesting data pays the access costs. First, the owner enables Requester Pays on the bucket. Then, when a requester tries to access data, they must specify a billing project to pay for the request. If they do not specify a billing project, the request is denied. When Requester Pays is disabled, the bucket owner pays for all access costs. This setup is useful for public datasets where the owner wants requesters to cover costs. The key steps are enabling Requester Pays, requester specifying billing project, and cost billing shifting accordingly.