Train machine learning model at the edge pattern
Generate portable machine learning (ML) models from data that only exists on-premises.
Many organizations would like to unlock insights from their on-premises or legacy data using tools that their data scientists understand. Azure Machine Learning provides cloud-native tooling to train, tune, and deploy ML and deep learning models.
However, some data is too large send to the cloud or can't be sent to the cloud for regulatory reasons. With this pattern, data scientists can use Azure Machine Learning to train models using on-premises data and compute.
The training at the edge pattern uses a virtual machine (VM) running on Azure Stack Hub. The VM is registered as a compute target in Azure Machine Learning, letting it access data only available on-premises. In this case, the data is stored in Azure Stack Hub's blob storage.
Once the model is trained, it's registered with Azure Machine Learning, containerized, and added to an Azure Container Registry for deployment. For this iteration of the pattern, the Azure Stack Hub training VM must be reachable over the public internet.
Here's how the pattern works:
- The Azure Stack Hub VM is deployed and registered as a compute target with Azure Machine Learning.
- An experiment is created in Azure Machine Learning that uses the Azure Stack Hub VM as a compute target.
- Once the model is trained, it's registered and containerized.
- The model can now be deployed to locations that are either on-premises or in the cloud.
This solution uses the following components:
| Layer | Component | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Azure | Azure Machine Learning | Azure Machine Learning orchestrates the training of the ML model. |
| Azure Container Registry | Azure Machine Learning packages the model into a container and stores it in an Azure Container Registry for deployment. | |
| Azure Stack Hub | App Service | Azure Stack Hub with App Service provides the base for the components at the edge. |
| Compute | An Azure Stack Hub VM running Ubuntu with Docker is used to train the ML model. | |
| Storage | Private data can be hosted in Azure Stack Hub blob storage. |
Consider the following points when deciding how to implement this solution:
To enable this solution to scale, you need to create an appropriately sized VM on Azure Stack Hub for training.
Ensure that the training scripts and Azure Stack Hub VM have access to the on-premises data used for training.
Ensure that models and experiments are appropriately registered, versioned, and tagged to avoid confusion during model deployment.
This pattern lets Azure Machine Learning access possible sensitive data on-premises. Ensure the account used to SSH into Azure Stack Hub VM has a strong password and training scripts don't preserve or upload data to the cloud.
To learn more about topics introduced in this article:
- See the Azure Machine Learning documentation for an overview of ML and related topics.
- See Azure Container Registry to learn how to build, store, and manage images for container deployments.
- Refer to App Service on Azure Stack Hub to learn more about the resource provider and how to deploy.
- See the Azure Stack family of products and solutions to learn more about the entire portfolio of products and solutions.
When you're ready to test the solution example, continue with the Train ML model at the edge deployment guide. The deployment guide provides step-by-step instructions for deploying and testing its components.