Create a workspace
This article is an overview of your options for creating and managing workspaces.
What is a workspace?
A workspace is a Databricks deployment in a cloud service account. It provides a unified environment for working with Databricks assets for a specified set of users.
There are two types of Databricks workspaces available:
- Serverless workspaces (Public Preview): A workspace deployment in your Databricks account that comes pre-configured with serverless compute and default storage to provide a completely serverless experience. Can still connect to your cloud storage.
- Traditional workspaces: A workspace deployment in your Databricks account that provisions storage and compute resources in your existing cloud account. Serverless compute is still available in traditional workspaces.
Choosing a workspace type
The following sections describe which workspace type is best for common use cases. Use these recommendations to help you decide whether you should deploy a serverless or traditional workspace.
When to choose serverless workspaces
Serverless workspaces are the best choice for the following use cases:
- Enable business users to access Databricks One
- Create AI/BI dashboards
- Create Databricks Apps
- Perform exploratory analytics using notebooks or SQL warehouses
- Connect to SaaS providers via Lakehouse Federation (but not Lakeflow Connect)
- Use Genie Spaces for business use cases
- Test new Mosaic AI features before moving them into production
- Create serverless Lakeflow Declarative Pipelines
When to choose traditional workspaces
Traditional workspaces are the best choice for the following use cases:
- Do AI or ML development work that requires GPUs
- Use Databricks Runtime for Machine Learning or Apache Spark MLib
- Port over existing legacy Spark code that uses Spark RDDs
- Use Scala or R as your primary coding language
- Stream data that requires default or time-based trigger intervals
- Connect to the Databricks APIs over a PrivateLink connection
- Connect to on-premises systems or private databases directly, through Lakeflow Connect
Workspace creation options
There are a few different methods you can use to create new workspaces: