In the age of artificial intelligence, speed is everything. From training models to deploying them in production, efficiency can make or break your competitive edge. And at the heart of it all? Data. More specifically, how that data is stored, retrieved, and processed.
In this post, we explore six powerful backend storage techniques that are essential for fast model training and overall data optimisation. If you’re building AI systems that need to perform at scale, these strategies are game-changers.
1. Use Columnar Storage for Analytical Speed
When dealing with large-scale data analytics, columnar storage formats such as Parquet or ORC shine. Unlike row-based formats, columnar storage allows your AI models to access only the fields they need—minimising I/O operations and speeding up training.
It’s especially useful in scenarios where feature selection is key. Instead of loading entire records, your system can retrieve just the necessary columns, improving memory usage and reducing load times.
Columnar formats pair particularly well with data lake architectures and distributed computing frameworks like Apache Spark.
2. Implement Data Lake Architectures
Traditional databases often fall short when working with the variety, volume, and velocity of data that modern AI requires. Enter data lakes—scalable repositories that can store both structured and unstructured data in their native formats.
By combining object storage solutions like Amazon S3, Azure Data Lake, or Google Cloud Storage with open formats such as Avro, Parquet, or Delta Lake, data lakes support high-speed access and cost-effective storage. This flexible model accommodates raw datasets, training-ready files, and even inference outputs—all in one place.
Data lakes also allow seamless integration with modern AI tools and frameworks, reducing data prep friction.
3. Use SSDs and NVMe for High-Throughput Access
Storage hardware plays a significant role in fast model training. Solid-State Drives (SSDs) and more advanced NVMe storage offer extremely fast read/write speeds compared to traditional spinning disks.
For deep learning workloads—where large datasets are read in parallel—high-throughput storage is vital.
Coupling fast storage with techniques like data sharding ensures that GPUs or TPUs are never idle waiting for data.
NVMe-based storage is especially critical in on-premise setups where latency is a bottleneck.
4. Cache Preprocessed Data
Another practical technique is to cache preprocessed or intermediate datasets. AI pipelines often spend significant time transforming raw data into a format suitable for training. By caching this intermediate state—either on disk or in-memory—you can bypass repeated transformations for subsequent training runs.
Solutions like Redis, Apache Ignite, or even in-memory dataframes in Spark can serve as effective caching layers.
This approach is a massive time-saver during model experimentation, hyperparameter tuning, or when running A/B tests.
5. Optimise Data Formats for Model Consumption
Different models consume data differently. For instance, image classification models benefit from pre-converted image formats (e.g., TFRecord for TensorFlow, LMDB for PyTorch), while tabular models might prefer Arrow or Parquet.
Choosing the right data format for your training framework significantly improves throughput. It’s not just about compression—it’s about how quickly data can be decoded, batched, and fed into your model.
Many AI frameworks now support data loaders that are optimised for specific formats—make use of them.
6. Distribute Storage Across Nodes for Parallelism
For massive datasets, single-node storage quickly becomes a bottleneck. Distributed file systems like HDFS, Ceph, or Alluxio break the data into blocks across multiple nodes, enabling parallel data access during training.
This is especially powerful when combined with distributed training frameworks like Horovod or PyTorch DDP, which train models across multiple GPUs or machines.
With the right setup, this architecture enables you to scale training linearly with your infrastructure.
Wrapping-Up
Speed and scale are non-negotiable in AI. And while much of the focus is often on the models themselves, the backend storage techniques you adopt can dramatically influence training speed, reliability, and scalability.
By combining smart hardware choices, distributed systems, and the right data formats, you can eliminate common bottlenecks and set your AI systems up for long-term success.
Need expert help implementing optimised AI pipelines? Dev Centre House Ireland specialises in backend infrastructure and AI development, helping organisations build robust systems ready for the next wave of innovation.
The faster your data flows, the faster your models learn. Start optimising today.
