Data concepts in Azure Machine Learning
With Azure Machine Learning, you can import data from a local machine or an existing cloud-based storage resource. This article describes key Azure Machine Learning data concepts.
Datastore
An Azure Machine Learning datastore serves as a reference to an existing Azure storage account. An Azure Machine Learning datastore offers these benefits:
- A common, easy-to-use API that interacts with different storage types (Blob/Files/ADLS).
- Easier discovery of useful datastores in team operations.
- For credential-based access (service principal/SAS/key), an Azure Machine Learning datastore secures connection information. This way, you don't need to place that information in your scripts.
When you create a datastore with an existing Azure storage account, you have two different authentication method options:
- Credential-based - authenticate data access with a service principal, shared access signature (SAS) token, or account key. Users with Reader workspace access can access the credentials.
- Identity-based - use your Microsoft Entra identity or managed identity to authenticate data access.
This table summarizes the Azure cloud-based storage services that an Azure Machine Learning datastore can create. Additionally, the table summarizes the authentication types that can access those services:
| Supported storage service | Credential-based authentication | Identity-based authentication |
|---|---|---|
| Azure Blob Container | ✓ | ✓ |
| Azure File Share | ✓ | |
| Azure Data Lake Gen1 | ✓ | ✓ |
| Azure Data Lake Gen2 | ✓ | ✓ |
For more information about datastores, visit Create datastores.
Default datastores
Each Azure Machine Learning workspace has a default storage account (Azure storage account) that contains these datastores:
Tip
To find the ID for your workspace, go to the workspace in the Azure portal. Expand Settings, and then select Properties. The Workspace ID appears.
| Datastore name | Data storage type | Data storage name | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
workspaceblobstore |
Blob container | azureml-blobstore-{workspace-id} |
Stores data uploads, job code snapshots, and pipeline data cache. |
workspaceworkingdirectory |
File share | code-{GUID} |
Stores data for notebooks, compute instances, and prompt flow. |
workspacefilestore |
File share | azureml-filestore-{workspace-id} |
Alternative container for data upload. |
workspaceartifactstore |
Blob container | azureml |
Storage for assets such as metrics, models, and components. |
Data types
A URI (storage location) can reference a file, a folder, or a data table. A machine learning job input and output definition requires one of these three data types:
| Type | V2 API | V1 API | Canonical Scenarios | V2/V1 API Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| File Reference a single file |
uri_file |
FileDataset |
Read/write a single file - the file can have any format. | A type new to V2 APIs. In V1 APIs, files always mapped to a folder on the compute target filesystem; this mapping required an os.path.join. In V2 APIs, the single file is mapped. This way, you can refer to that location in your code. |
| Folder Reference a single folder |
uri_folder |
FileDataset |
You must read/write a folder of parquet/CSV files into Pandas/Spark. Deep-learning with images, text, audio, video files located in a folder. |
In V1 APIs, FileDataset had an associated engine that could take a file sample from a folder. In V2 APIs, a folder is a simple mapping to the compute target filesystem. |
| Table Reference a data table |
mltable |
TabularDataset |
You have a complex schema subject to frequent changes, or you need a subset of large tabular data. AutoML with Tables. |
In V1 APIs, the Azure Machine Learning back-end stored the data materialization blueprint. As a result, TabularDataset only worked if you had an Azure Machine Learning workspace. mltable stores the data materialization blueprint in your storage. This storage location means you can use it disconnected to Azure Machine Learning - for example, locally and on-premises. In V2 APIs, it's easier to transition from local to remote jobs. For more information, visit Working with tables in Azure Machine Learning. |
URI
A Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) represents a storage location on your local computer, Azure storage, or a publicly available http(s) location. These examples show URIs for different storage options:
| Storage location | URI examples |
|---|---|
| Azure Machine Learning Datastore | azureml://datastores/<data_store_name>/paths/<folder1>/<folder2>/<folder3>/<file>.parquet |
| Local computer | ./home/username/data/my_data |
| Public http(s) server | https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pandas-dev/pandas/main/doc/data/titanic.csv |
| Blob storage | wasbs://<containername>@<accountname>.blob.core.windows.net/<folder>/ |
| Azure Data Lake (gen2) | abfss://<file_system>@<account_name>.dfs.core.windows.net/<folder>/<file>.csv |
| Azure Data Lake (gen1) | adl://<accountname>.azuredatalakestore.net/<folder1>/<folder2> |
An Azure Machine Learning job maps URIs to the compute target filesystem. This mapping means that for a command that consumes or produces a URI, that URI works like a file or a folder. A URI uses identity-based authentication to connect to storage services, with either your Microsoft Entra ID (default) or Managed Identity. Azure Machine Learning Datastore URIs can apply either identity-based authentication, or credential-based (for example, Service Principal, SAS token, account key) authentication, without exposure of secrets.
A URI can serve as either input or an output to an Azure Machine Learning job, and it can map to the compute target filesystem with one of four different mode options:
- Read-only mount (
ro_mount): The URI represents a storage location that is mounted to the compute target filesystem. The mounted data location exclusively supports read-only output. - Read-write mount (
rw_mount): The URI represents a storage location that is mounted to the compute target filesystem. The mounted data location supports both read output from it and data writes to it. - Download (
download): The URI represents a storage location containing data that is downloaded to the compute target filesystem. - Upload (
upload): All data written to a compute target location is uploaded to the storage location represented by the URI.
Additionally, you can pass in the URI as a job input string with the direct mode. This table summarizes the combination of modes available for inputs and outputs:
| Job Input or Output |
upload |
download |
ro_mount |
rw_mount |
direct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Output | ✓ | ✓ |
For more information, visit Access data in a job.
Data runtime capability
Azure Machine Learning uses its own data runtime for one of three purposes:
- for mounts/uploads/downloads
- to map storage URIs to the compute target filesystem
- to materialize tabular data into pandas/spark with Azure Machine Learning tables (
mltable)
The Azure Machine Learning data runtime is designed for high speed and high efficiency of machine learning tasks. It offers these key benefits:
- Rust language architecture. The Rust language is known for high speed and high memory efficiency.
- Light weight; the Azure Machine Learning data runtime has no dependencies on other technologies - JVM, for example - so the runtime installs quickly on compute targets.
- Multi-process (parallel) data loading.
- Data pre-fetches operate as background task on the CPU(s), to enhance utilization of the GPU(s) in deep-learning operations.
- Seamless authentication to cloud storage.
Data asset
An Azure Machine Learning data asset resembles web browser bookmarks (favorites). Instead of remembering long storage paths (URIs) that point to your most frequently used data, you can create a data asset, and then access that asset with a friendly name.
Data asset creation also creates a reference to the data source location, along with a copy of its metadata. Because the data remains in its existing location, you incur no extra storage cost, and you don't risk data source integrity. You can create Data assets from Azure Machine Learning datastores, Azure Storage, public URLs, or local files.
For more information about data assets, visit Create data assets.