Sources with the BigML Dashboard

8.3 Azure Stores

BigML can retrieve sources directly from Azure as block or page blobs. The URLs take the following forms: 

azure://<container>/<blob>?AccountKey=<key>&AccountName=<storage account>
azures://<container>/<blob>?AccountKey=<key>&AccountName=<storage account>
Figure 8.5 Azure URLs templates to create remote sources

The azures variant asks for HTTPS, instead of HTTP, for the end point protocol. You can also use asv and asvs instead of azure and azures, respectively.

The AccountKey parameter is unnecessary for public blobs; in addition, one can add the following parameters:

  • DefaultEndpointsProtocol either http or https overrides the one implied by the URI scheme.

  • BlobEndPoint for blobs that use their own domain names instead of Azure’s default blob.core.windows.net.

  • SharedAccessSignature for shared containers, in which case the account credentials will be ignored.

Finally, if using the default end points, the URL can be specified as the blob’s REST URL: 

http://<account name>.blob.core.windows.net/<container>/<blob>?AccountKey=...
Figure 8.6 Azure Blob REST URL

Having the same parameters as above except that the account name is now part of the URL. HTTPS URLs of the same form are also recognized as Azure blobs.