Data Connectors
A connector is a read-only bridge to storage you already have. Browse it from inside Rescale and attach files as job inputs. The data stays where it lives.
Everything else in Files & Storage keeps a copy of your data. Rescale Files, CFS and storage devices all store it on Rescale. A connector stores nothing, which is what makes it useful for data you are not allowed to move and data too large to be worth moving.
Advanced Modeling & Simulation includes the cloud object storage connectors: AWS S3 and Azure Blob Storage.
Agentic Engineering adds the rest, including SharePoint and Databricks, plus knowledge bases over the ones that support it.
Your Rescale account team can confirm what your workspace has.
What each connector can do
Not every connector supports every operation, and the gaps matter when you are deciding how to get data into a job.
The last column is the one that catches people out. S3 and Azure Blob Storage come with Advanced Modeling & Simulation, but building a knowledge base over either of them still needs Agentic Engineering.
You can't search them by name or attach their files to a job. For SharePoint, the value is the knowledge base: Edison reads inside those documents even though you can't attach them.
Where your data stays
Connecting a source changes nothing about where the data lives. The files remain in your bucket, container or site, and Rescale reads them when a job needs them, so you carry no duplicate copy and no second storage charge.
Access runs one way. Rescale reads from the source and cannot write to it, so nothing a connector does can alter or delete what is in your bucket, container or site.
A connector also does not take the place of Rescale Files or CFS. Job output still lands in Rescale Files as it always did, so a workspace using connectors heavily still has Rescale storage to manage.
Rescale adds connector types over time, so if the source you need is not listed above, ask your account team whether it is covered yet.
Browse and search
Go to Connectors > Browse Files and pick a source from the dropdown. The folder tree appears as it does in the source itself, with the same names, sizes and hierarchy, and file types Rescale can render carry a preview icon.
Search covers S3 and Azure Blob, and matches on file name and path prefix.
Searching finds files whose name or path starts with your term. It doesn't look inside file contents. That's what a knowledge base does.
Attach connected files to a job
During job or workstation setup, in Inputs choose Attach from Cloud Storage, then pick your source under External Storage. Select files and click Attach.
Files transfer from the source straight to the compute cluster at launch, never passing through Rescale storage. That removes the upload step, so there is no wait before you can submit and no second storage charge for data you already hold elsewhere.
One job can draw on both, so you can attach connected files alongside Rescale Files inputs in the same submission. When the data is already on Rescale, reusing files across jobs does the equivalent job without a connector.
Setting up a connector
Only workspace and organization administrators can add a connector. Once one is in place, every member of the workspace can browse and use that source.
Go to Connectors > Manage Connectors > Add new, choose the connector type, enter the credentials, use Test Connection to confirm they work, and Save.
Access is scoped by the credentials you supply, not by Rescale's per-user permissions. Everyone in the workspace sees the same files.
Supply credentials scoped to exactly the bucket, container, or site you intend to expose, and no more.
Security model
Access is read-only, so Rescale cannot modify or delete anything in the source. Authentication uses each provider's own mechanism rather than anything Rescale invents: IAM for S3, SAS tokens for Azure Blob Storage, and an app registration for SharePoint. Credentials are encrypted at rest and never returned in API responses.
Related
- Knowledge bases — searching inside connected documents
- Rescale Files — the copy-based alternative
- Create a job — where attachment happens