What is a valid object hierarchy when building a Snowflake environment?
Correct Answer: B
This is the valid object hierarchy when building a Snowflake environment, according to the Snowflake documentation and the web search results. Snowflake is a cloud data platform that supports various types of objects, such as databases, schemas, tables, views, stages, warehouses, and more. These objects are organized in a hierarchical structure, as follows: Organization: An organization is the top-level entity that represents a group of Snowflake accounts that are related by business needs or ownership. An organization can have one or more accounts, and can enable features such as cross-account data sharing, billing and usage reporting, and single sign-on across accounts12. Account: An account is the primary entity that represents a Snowflake customer. An account can have one or more databases, schemas, stages, warehouses, and other objects. An account can also have one or more users, roles, and security integrations. An account is associated with a specific cloud platform, region, and Snowflake edition34. Database: A database is a logical grouping of schemas. A database can have one or more schemas, and can store structured, semi-structured, or unstructured data. A database can also have properties such as retention time, encryption, and ownership56. Schema: A schema is a logical grouping of tables, views, stages, and other objects. A schema can have one or more objects, and can define the namespace and access control for the objects. A schema can also have properties such as ownership and default warehouse . Stage: A stage is a named location that references the files in external or internal storage. A stage can be used to load data into Snowflake tables using the COPY INTO command, or to unload data from Snowflake tables using the COPY INTO LOCATION command. A stage can be created at the account, database, or schema level, and can have properties such as file format, encryption, and credentials . The other options listed are not valid object hierarchies, because they either omit or misplace some objects in the structure. For example, option A omits the organization level and places the warehouse under the schema level, which is incorrect. Option C omits the organization, account, and stage levels, and places the table under the schema level, which is incorrect. Option D omits the database level and places the stage and table under the account level, which is incorrect. References: Snowflake Documentation: Organizations Snowflake Blog: Introducing Organizations in Snowflake Snowflake Documentation: Accounts Snowflake Blog: Understanding Snowflake Account Structures Snowflake Documentation: Databases Snowflake Blog: How to Create a Database in Snowflake [Snowflake Documentation: Schemas] [Snowflake Blog: How to Create a Schema in Snowflake] [Snowflake Documentation: Stages] [Snowflake Blog: How to Use Stages in Snowflake]
Question 2
What built-in Snowflake features make use of the change tracking metadata for a table? (Choose two.)
Correct Answer: C,D
The built-in Snowflake features that make use of the change tracking metadata for a table are the CHANGES clause and a STREAM object. The CHANGES clause enables querying the change tracking metadata for a table or view within a specified interval of time without having to create a stream with an explicit transactional offset1. A STREAM object records data manipulation language (DML) changes made to tables, including inserts, updates, and deletes, as well as metadata about each change, so that actions can be taken using the changed data. This process is referred to as change data capture (CDC)2. The other options are incorrect because they do not make use of the change tracking metadata for a table. The MERGE command performs insert, update, or delete operations on a target table based on the results of a join with a source table3. The UPSERT command is not a valid Snowflake command. The CHANGE_DATA_CAPTURE command is not a valid Snowflake command. References: CHANGES | Snowflake Documentation, Change Tracking Using Table Streams | Snowflake Documentation, MERGE | Snowflake Documentation
Question 3
Is it possible for a data provider account with a Snowflake Business Critical edition to share data with an Enterprise edition data consumer account?
Correct Answer: B
In Snowflake, data sharing capabilities allow a Business Critical edition account to share data with an Enterprise edition consumer account. The ability to share data is contingent upon the role permissions within the provider account. If a user has the necessary role authority (like ACCOUNTADMIN or a role with similar privileges to create or manage shares), they can add an Enterprise edition account as a consumer. This feature enables flexibility in data sharing across different Snowflake account editions, facilitating broader data collaboration and accessibility.References: Snowflake's data sharing documentation and the specifics of edition-based capabilities discussed in SnowPro Advanced: Architect certification materials.
Question 4
Files arrive in an external stage every 10 seconds from a proprietary system. The files range in size from 500 K to 3 MB. The data must be accessible by dashboards as soon as it arrives. How can a Snowflake Architect meet this requirement with the LEAST amount of coding? (Choose two.)
Correct Answer: A,E
The requirement is for the data to be accessible as quickly as possible after it arrives in the external stage with minimal coding effort. Option A: Snowpipe with auto-ingest is a service that continuously loads data as it arrives in the stage. With auto-ingest, Snowpipe automatically detects new files as they arrive in a cloud stage and loads the data into the specified Snowflake table with minimal delay and no intervention required. This is an ideal low-maintenance solution for the given scenario where files are arriving at a very high frequency. Option E: Using a combination of a task and a stream allows for real-time change data capture in Snowflake. A stream records changes (inserts, updates, and deletes) made to a table, and a task can be scheduled to trigger on a very short interval, ensuring that changes are processed into the dashboard tables as they occur.
Question 5
Which data models can be used when modeling tables in a Snowflake environment? (Select THREE).
Correct Answer: B,D,F
Snowflake is a cloud data platform that supports various data models for modeling tables in a Snowflake environment. The data models can be classified into two categories: dimensional and normalized. Dimensional data models are designed to optimize query performance and ease of use for business intelligence and analytics. Normalized data models are designed to reduce data redundancy and ensure data integrity for transactional and operational systems. The following are some of the data models that can be used in Snowflake: Dimensional/Kimball: This is a popular dimensional data model that uses a star or snowflake schema to organize data into fact and dimension tables. Fact tables store quantitative measures and foreign keys to dimension tables. Dimension tables store descriptive attributes and hierarchies. A star schema has a single denormalized dimension table for each dimension, while a snowflake schema has multiple normalized dimension tables for each dimension. Snowflake supports both star and snowflake schemas, and allows users to create views and joins to simplify queries. Inmon/3NF: This is a common normalized data model that uses a third normal form (3NF) schema to organize data into entities and relationships. 3NF schema eliminates data duplication and ensures data consistency by applying three rules: 1) every column in a table must depend on the primary key, 2) every column in a table must depend on the whole primary key, not a part of it, and 3) every column in a table must depend only on the primary key, not on other columns. Snowflake supports 3NF schema and allows users to create referential integrity constraints and foreign key relationships to enforce data quality. Data vault: This is a hybrid data model that combines the best practices of dimensional and normalized data models to create a scalable, flexible, and resilient data warehouse. Data vault schema consists of three types of tables: hubs, links, and satellites. Hubs store business keys andmetadata for each entity. Links store associations and relationships between entities. Satellites store descriptive attributes and historical changes for each entity or relationship. Snowflake supports data vault schema and allows users to leverage its features such as time travel, zero-copy cloning, and secure data sharing to implement data vault methodology. References: What is Data Modeling? | Snowflake, Snowflake Schema in Data Warehouse Model - GeeksforGeeks, [Data Vault 2.0 Modeling with Snowflake]
