How to deploy Machine Learning models in Production as APIs (using Flask)
Deploying Machine Learning Models as APIs using Flask
1. Options to Implement Machine Learning Models:
• Option 1: Rewriting code in the language of software engineers.
• Option 2: API-first approach - using web APIs for cross-language compatibility.
2. What are APIs?
• APIs are contracts between two software systems, defining input-output formats for functionality
extension.
3. Python Environment Setup & Flask Basics:
• Use Anaconda for environment management.
• Install Flask and Gunicorn.
• Create a simple Flask "Hello-World" application.
• Serve the app using Gunicorn.
4. Creating a Machine Learning Model:
• Use a competition dataset (e.g., Loan Prediction).
• Preprocess data, handle missing values.
• Create a Scikit-learn pipeline for training.
5. Saving Machine Learning Model: Serialization & Deserialization:
• Serialize models using pickle or h5py.
• Save the model file.
6. Creating an API using Flask:
• Define Flask app with an API endpoint.
• Handle API requests, load the model, make predictions.
• Use `request.get_json()` for JSON data.
• Run Flask app with Gunicorn.
7. Containerize the Flask App:
• Create a Dockerfile for containerization.
• Build and push Docker image to a container registry.
8. Deploy to a Cloud Platform (AWS):
• Set up services on AWS (ECS, API Gateway, ECR).
• Deploy the containerized Flask app to ECS.
• Link API Gateway to the ECS service.
9. Test the Deployed API:
• Send test requests to the API Gateway endpoint.
• Ensure accurate predictions from the deployed model.
10. Monitor and Scale:
• Use AWS CloudWatch for monitoring.
• Scale ECS service based on load.
11. Additional Considerations:
• Implement authentication and authorization for API security.
• Use environment variables for sensitive information.
• Save and track ML models effectively.
• Consider deploying APIs on a small VM for cost-effectiveness.
12. Conclusion:
• Follow an API-first approach for clean, usable APIs.
• Use version control for models and API code.
• Keep custom estimators and training code together for sklearn models.
13. Note:
• Prioritize security measures and best practices in deploying ML models, handling sensitive data, securing
endpoints, and maintaining model versioning.
