Help Center/ ModelArts/ Data Preparation/ Data Connection/ Creating a Data Connection
Updated on 2026-07-03 GMT+08:00

Creating a Data Connection

Scenarios

In data processing and model training scenarios, efficiently and accurately importing various datasets into ModelArts is essential to support subsequent smart refining and model training. Traditional data import methods, however, are often limited—supporting only basic task naming and offering minimal data format conversion capabilities. These constraints lead to difficulties in data import and slow processing efficiency, making the need for a more flexible and efficient data import solution increasingly urgent. ModelArts addresses these challenges with an enhanced data import feature that supports multiple common data types. You can now customize task names and descriptions during task creation. The platform also supports data format conversion and direct dataset publishing, significantly improving both the flexibility and efficiency of data processing. This enhancement meets the diverse needs of users during the data preparation phase.

Prerequisites

  • Before creating an import job, prepare data based on TR202603005599_148 .

Constraints

  • The size of a data file or compressed package imported through a data connection cannot exceed 20 GB, and the total file size cannot exceed 20 GB.
  • When importing data from OBS, you can only specify a folder as the OBS path, not a file.

Creating a Data Connection Task

  1. Log in to the ModelArts console.
  2. In the left navigation pane of the management console, choose Data Preparation > Data Connections.
  1. In the upper right corner, click Create Data Connection. On the displayed page, configure the parameters.
    Table 1 Parameters required for creating a data connection

    Parameter

    Description

    Example Value

    Basic Information

    Task Name

    Custom task name. The default value is data-connect-YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.

    The name must start with a letter and end with a letter or digit. It can contain 2 to 64 characters. Only letters, digits, hyphens (-), and underscores (_) are allowed.

    data-connect-20260425083507

    Description

    Description of a custom data connection. It can contain a maximum of 200 characters. Only letters, digits, spaces, hyphens (-), underscores (_), commas (,), periods (.), brackets, colons (:), and commas are allowed.

    -

    Data Import

    Dataset Type

    Text, image, video, audio, and other types of datasets are supported. For details about the dataset format requirements, see Dataset Format Requirements.

    Text

    Document

    docx

    Connection Method

    OBS and local upload are supported.

    Object Storage Service

    Storage Location

    • If Connection Method is set to Object Storage Service, you can select Object Storage Service – Bucket or Object Storage Service – Parallel File System. Click to select an OBS storage address or manually enter an address. The storage address must start with obs:// or / and end with a slash (/). It cannot contain double slashes (//) except in the prefix. For example, obs://bucketname/path/ or /bucketname/path/.

      Ensure individual files or compressed packages do not exceed 1 GB in size.

    • If Connection Method is set to Local upload, you can select select Object Storage Service – Bucket or Object Storage Service – Parallel File System. Click to select an OBS storage address or manually enter an address. The storage address must start with obs:// or / and end with a slash (/). It cannot contain double slashes (//) except in the prefix. For example, obs://bucketname/path/ or /bucketname/path/.

      A maximum of 20 files can be uploaded. The size of a single file cannot exceed 1 GB. It is recommended that no more than 10 files be uploaded at a time.

    obs://bucketname/path/

    Generate Dataset

    Dataset Name

    Name of a custom dataset. The name must start with a letter and end with a letter or digit. It can contain 2 to 63 characters. Only letters, digits, hyphens (-), and underscores (_) are allowed.

    dataset

    Dataset Property

    Click to configure dataset properties as required, such as the industry and language.

    -

    Description

    Description of a custom dataset. Only letters, digits, spaces, hyphens (-), underscores (_), commas (,), periods (.), brackets, colons (:), and commas are allowed. The value can contain a maximum of 200 characters.

    -

    Dataset Status

    Only published datasets can be used by downstream tasks such as model training.

    • If you select Publish Dataset, the generated dataset is in the Online state on the Asset Management > Data > My Data page and can be directly used by downstream model training jobs.
    • If you do not select Publish Dataset, the generated dataset will be in the Offline state on the Asset Management > Data > My Data page and cannot be directly used by downstream model training jobs. You need to manually publish the dataset before using it.

    Select Publish Dataset.

    Extended Info

    You can configure dataset copyright information as required. The dataset copyright function records and manages copyright details to ensure legal data use. It specifies the source, owner, and license of the dataset. By entering this information, you can track the data's origin and set usage rules, protecting copyrights and preventing disputes.

    -

  1. After setting the parameters, click Create Now in the lower right corner of the page. On the Data Connections page, you can view the task status of the dataset. If the status is Success, the data connection task is successful.
  2. After the dataset is generated, view the generated dataset on the Asset Management > Data > My Data page. For more information, see My Data.

Follow-Up Operations

After a data connection task is successfully executed, it can be used for Smart Refining.