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updatedAt: 2026-08-27T14:41:47.000Z
agentTools:
  projectIndex: https://documentation.picsellia.com/llms.txt
---

# Philosophy and infrastructure

A `Datalake` is a place shared by all the members of an *Organization* to gather all the images and videos (called `Data`) in the frame of your Computer Vision projects.

The `Datalake` feature mainly aims at having all your `Data` available for visualization, structuring, and exploration.

For a Computer Vision team, this means having a single source of truth for your raw images and videos instead of scattered local folders or bucket copies: the same pool of `Data` can then be reused to build and version as many `Dataset` as needed for different models or use cases, without duplicating storage or losing track of where your `Data` comes from.

First of all, it is important to note that an *Organization* can have several `Datalake`.

Each `Datalake` is connected through a *Cloud Storage Integration* to a bucket on an Object Storage (hosted by a Cloud provider or locally) where the `Data` visualized on the `Datalake` is physically stored.

When creating a new Picsellia *Organization*, a new dedicated bucket is created on the Picsellia Object Storage (hosted by AWS). The `Datalake` of the freshly created Organization is called *Default* and is connected to this bucket, and all `Data` uploaded to this `Datalake` will be physically stored on this Picsellia Object Storage.

However, you can also decide to create a new `Datalake` for your Organization and connect it to your own bucket hosted by your Cloud provider. To do so, please refer to this [tutorial](https://documentation.picsellia.com/docs/tutorial-connect-storage).

You can easily switch from a `Datalake` to another, as detailed [here](https://documentation.picsellia.com/docs/datalake-overview).

<Image src="https://files.readme.io/6972881392a3c33209260512759aa0d5b2fc13a3773aa8372c7105fbd6a42861-image.png" align="center" caption="Access Datalake list" border={true} />

Every machine learning project begins with data, and in our case of Computer Vision, it starts with images and videos.

There are two ways to upload your `Data` using Picsellia:

1. [Upload locally stored `Data` directly to Picsellia](https://documentation.picsellia.com/docs/datalake-import-data#3-upload-data-from-a-local-drive). In this scenario, your `Data` will be physically stored by Picsellia in the Object Storage linked to the current `Datalake`.
2. [Import Data already stored on your own Cloud Object Storage](https://documentation.picsellia.com/docs/datalake-import-data#4-import-data-from-your-cloud-based-object-storage) to Picsellia's `Datalake` and access them through Picsellia.

All users with *Admin* rights in a given *Organization* can access the *Organization Settings*, particularly the *Storages and Datalakes* tab, detailed [here](https://documentation.picsellia.com/docs/storages-and-datalakes). From this one, you can manage the existing `Datalake` and *Cloud Storage Integrations*.

<Image src="https://files.readme.io/152ec594e8a5664297159e2f4b0989e6031ac5350eb6decc2dd414ac84df9c06-image.png" align="center" caption="Storages and Datalakes tab" border={true} />

Please note that if you are accessing the `Datalake` connected to the bucket created for you on the Picsellia Object Storage, which is the `Datalake` called *Default* and created for you when initializing a new Organization, you will only be able to upload `Data` from your local drive. The uploaded `Data` will be physically stored on Picsellia's Object Storage and visualized on the *Default* `Datalake` using the *Cloud Storage Integration* created by default for your Organization named *hinokuni-storage-production*.

<Image src="https://files.readme.io/9f1306b42c4d7933386b5519110258c97d7174a4da6650dc0c32977ee13d2071-image.png" align="center" caption="Default Cloud Storage Integration provided by Picsellia at Organization creation" border={true} />

If you create a new `Datalake` following [this tutorial](https://documentation.picsellia.com/docs/tutorial-connect-storage), which will use a new *Cloud Storage Integration* linked to your own bucket, then you will be able to either:

* [Upload `Data` from a local drive](https://documentation.picsellia.com/docs/datalake-import-data#3-upload-data-from-a-local-drive). In this case, the uploaded `Data` will be physically stored by Picsellia in your bucket
* [Import `Data` already stored on your bucket](https://documentation.picsellia.com/docs/datalake-import-data#4-import-data-from-your-cloud-based-object-storage). In this case, you will be able to visualize and explore `Data` already physically stored on your bucket through your Picsellia `Datalake`.