Free Practice Questions for Snowflake SnowPro-Core Exam

 A Pre-signed URL should be used to access files stored in a Snowflake stage without requiring authentication into Snowflake. Pre-signed URLs are simple HTTPS URLs that provide temporary access to a file via a web browser, using a pre-signed access token. The expiration time for the access token is configurable, and this type of URL allows users or applications to directly access or download the files without needing to authenticate into Snowflake5.

References: [COF-C02] SnowPro Core Certification Exam Study Guide

The OWNERSHIP privilege is unique in that it must be granted by one role to another and cannot be revoked. This ensures that the transfer of ownership is deliberate and permanent, reflecting the importance of ownership in managing access and permissions.

The query acceleration service in Snowflake is designed to benefit queries that involve large scans and selective filters. This service can offload portions of the query processing work to shared compute resources, which can handle these types of workloads more efficiently by performing more work in parallel and reducing the wall-clock time spent in scanning and filtering2. References: [COF-C02] SnowPro Core Certification Exam Study Guide

When a tag object is assigned to a table, using the statement CREATE TABLE <table_name> AS SELECT * FROM TABLE_A will automatically assign the TABLE_A tag to the newly created table2.

 A masking policy in Snowflake consists of a single data type, with one or more conditions, and one or more masking functions. These components define how the data is masked based on the specified conditions3.

 Storing JSON data in a table with a VARIANT data type is optimal for querying because it allows Snowflake to leverage its semi-structured data capabilities. This approach enables efficient storage and querying without the need for flattening the data, which can be performance-intensive1.

 In a managed access schema, the schema owner retains the OWNERSHIP privilege of any tables added to the schema. This means that while object owners have certain privileges over the objects they create, only the schema owner can manage privilege grants on these objects1.

 In Snowflake, a reader account is a type of account that is intended for consuming shared data rather than performing any data management or DDL operations. The CREATE SHARE command is used to share data from your account with another account, which is not a capability provided to reader accounts. Reader accounts are typically restricted from creating shares, as their primary purpose is to read shared data rather than to share it themselves.

References:

Snowflake Documentation on Reader Accounts

SnowPro® Core Certification Study Guide

The list command in Snowflake is used to validate and display the list of files in a specified stage. When a user has unloaded data to a stage, running the list @file__stage command will show all the files that have been uploaded to that stage, allowing the user to verify the data that was unloaded.

References:

Snowflake Documentation on Stages

SnowPro® Core Certification Study Guide

Column-level security is a feature that allows fine-grained control over access to specific columns within a table. This is particularly useful for managing sensitive data and ensuring that only authorized users can view or manipulate certain pieces of information. According to my last update, this feature was available in the Enterprise Edition or higher editions of Snowflake.

References: Based on my internal data as of 2021, column-level security is an advanced feature typically reserved for higher-tiered editions like the Enterprise Edition in data warehousing solutions such as Snowflake.

https://docs.snowflake.com/en/user-guide/intro-editions.html

Fail-safe is a feature in Snowflake that provides an additional layer of data protection. After the Time Travel retention period ends, Fail-safe offers a non-configurable 7-day period during which historical data may be recoverable by Snowflake. This period is designed to protect against accidental data loss and is not intended for customer access.

References: Understanding and viewing Fail-safe | Snowflake Documentation

When a Snowflake virtual warehouse is resized, the data cached in the warehouse is not lost. This is because the cache is maintained independently of the warehouse size. Resizing a warehouse, whether scaling up or down, does not affect the cached data, ensuring that query performance is not impacted by such changes.

References:

[COF-C02] SnowPro Core Certification Exam Study Guide

Snowflake Documentation on Virtual Warehouse Performance1

 In a CREATE PIPE ... AS COPY ... FROM (....) statement, the supported transformations include filtering data using an optional WHERE clause and omitting columns. The WHERE clause allows for the specification of conditions to filter the data that is being loaded, ensuring only relevant data is inserted into the table. Omitting columns enables the exclusion of certain columns from the data load, which can be useful when the incoming data contains more columns than are needed for the target table.

References:

[COF-C02] SnowPro Core Certification Exam Study Guide

Simple Transformations During a Load1

 Snowflake’s default Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) service is powered by Duo Security. Users are required to install the Duo Mobile application on their devices to use MFA for increased login security when connecting to Snowflake. This service is managed entirely by Snowflake, and users do not need to sign up separately with Duo1.

 In all Snowflake editions, two key capabilities are universally available:

B. Automatic encryption of all data: Snowflake automatically encrypts all data stored in its platform, ensuring security and compliance with various regulations. This encryption is transparent to users and does not require any configuration or management.

D. Object-level access control: Snowflake provides granular access control mechanisms that allow administrators to define permissions at the object level, including databases, schemas, tables, and views. This ensures that only authorized users can access specific data objects.

These features are part of Snowflake’s commitment to security and governance, and they are included in every edition of the Snowflake Data Cloud.

References:

Snowflake Documentation on Security Features

SnowPro® Core Certification Exam Study Guide