Are you preparing for a snowflake interview? Are you 100% sure that you are well prepared? If not, there are snowflake interview questions that will come in handy; here are a few frequently asked questions in the world of the Snowflake. These questions will help you revise all the essential parts, making it easier for you to crack the interview.

Snowflakes are one of the most trending topics as most of the work or physical work is done with the help of machines that have software installed in them. 

We have divided Snowflake interview questions into two segments

• For freshers
• For experienced

1. What is a Snowflake cloud data warehouse?

Ans: Snowflake is just an analytic warehouse implemented just as a SaaS service. It is built on a very new SQL database engine which has a unique architecture built for the cloud. 

2. Name Snowflake architecture

Ans: Three main layers build the Snowflake architecture – they are database storage, query processing, and cloud services.

3. What are the features of Snowflake?

Ans: Unique features of Snowflake data are given below:

• Database and Object Closing
• External tables
• Supports geospatial data
• Data Sharing
• Search optimization service
• Result Caching
• Support for XML
• Hive meta store integration
• Security and data protection

4. Describe the Snowflake computing. 

Ans: Snowflake cloud data warehouse platform basically provides instant, secure, and governed access to all the entire data network and a core architecture that enables various types of data workloads.

5. Name three cloud platforms currently supported by the Snowflake?

Ans: Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

Microsoft Azure (Azure)

6. What is the primary use of the Cloud Services layer in the Snowflake?

Ans: In the Snowflake, the Services layer authenticates user sessions, and it applies security functions, offers management, and organizes all the transactions.

7. Is Snowflake an ETL tool?

Ans: Snowflake supports both types of transformations during or just after any loading (ELT). Snowflake integrates with a different kinds of data integration solutions, including Informatica, Talend, and others.

8. What ETL tools will you use with Snowflake?

Ans: The following are one of the best ETL tools for Snowflake

• Matillion
• Blendo
• StreamSets
• Etleap
• Hevo Data

9. What type of database basically is Snowflake?

Ans: Snowflake is built entirely on a SQL database. It’s just a type of columnar-stored relational database that works very well with Excel, Tableau, etc. Snowflake consists of a query tool that supports multi-statement transactions, etc., which are very expected in a SQL database.

10. What kind of SQL does Snowflake use?

Ans: Snowflake basically supports the standard standardized version of the SQL, which is  ANSI for the powerful relational database querying.

Question for freshers 

11. How is the data stored in Snowflake?

Ans: The data is basically stored in the columnar format, which is in the cloud storage of Snowflake. 

12. How many editions of Snowflake are available now?

Ans: Snowflake offers four different editions, which depend on your usage requirements.

1) Standard edition 

2) Enterprise edition 

3) Business-critical edition 

4) Virtual Private Snowflake (VPS) 

13. Explain the Virtual warehouse

Ans: In Snowflake, that is just a virtual warehouse, and it is often known as a “warehouse,” a collection of the computational resources.

14. Is Snowflake OLTP or OLAP?

Ans: An OLTP (Online Transactional Processing) database basically contains detailed and up-to-date data and also a large volume of typically small data transactions.

15. Explain the Columnar database

Ans: The columnar database is basically the opposite of conventional databases. It also saves the data in a column in place of rows, eases the different methods for some analytical query processing, and also offers more incredible performance for databases. 

16. What is the actual use of a database storage layer?

Ans: Whenever we load any data into the Snowflake, it organizes it into a compressed, columnar, and optimized format. Snowflake just deals with storing the data comprising data compression, file size, and other properties associated with the data storage.

17. What is the primary use of the Compute layer in Snowflake?

Ans: Virtual warehouses perform many of the data handling tasks, which are just multiple clusters of computing resources. 

18. What are the various ways to access the Snowflake Cloud data warehouse?

Ans: We can easily access the Snowflake data warehouse through the following:

A web-based is the user interface from which various aspects of Snowflake management and all users can be accessed.

Command-line clients (such as SnowSQL), which can access all the parts of Snowflake and manage and use it.

19. Why is Snowflake so successful?

Ans: Snowflake is so successful because of the following reasons:

It assists with a wide variety of technology in areas like data integration, business intelligence, security, and governance.

It also offers cloud infrastructure which supports advanced design architectures, which is ideal for dynamic and quick usage developments.

 Questions for experienced

20. How can you secure the data in the Snowflake?

Ans: Data security plays a very important role in all types of enterprises. Snowflake also helps adapt the best-in-class security standards, which are used for encrypting and securing the customer accounts and the data that we easily store in the Snowflake. 

21. Tell me something about the Snowflake AWS?

Ans: For managing any data analytics, companies mainly rely on a data platform that offers very rapid deployment, compelling performance, and on-demand scalability. 

22. Can an AWS glue connect to the Snowflake?

Ans: Yes. AWS can present a comprehensively managed environment that quickly connects with Snowflake as a data warehouse service. 

23. Define Micro Partitions?

Ans: Snowflake comes along with just a robust and a unique type of data partitioning, which is known as micro partitioning. 

Snowflake Advanced Interview Questions

24. How is Snowflake different from the Redshift?

Ans: Snowflake is just a comprehensive SaaS solution which requires no maintenance.
AWS Redshift clusters necessitate some manual maintenance.

Snowflake also separates computing and also storage, allowing for customizable pricing and setup.
Reserved/Spot instance price in the Redshift also provides for cost optimization.

25. Explain Snowpipe in Snowflake

Ans: Snowpipe means a continuous data ingestion service. Snowpipe also helps in loading data in a few minutes just after once files are easily uploaded to a stage, and it is submitted for ingestion.

26. Describe Snowflake Schema

Ans: A schema is a logical grouping that means a group of database objects just as tables, views, etc. The snowflake schema is mainly made up of fact tables which are centralized and linked to multiple dimensions. 

27. Differentiate between Star Schema and Snowflake Schema

Ans: The star schema is just a top-down model.
While it is just a bottom-up model.

The star schema takes up much more space.
While it takes up much less space.

28. Explain Time Travel in Snowflake

Ans: Snowflake Time Travel is just a tool that helps us to easily access the past data or any moment in a specified period. 

29. Differentiate Fail-Safe and Time-Travel in Snowflake

Ans: Time-Travel

         Fail-Safe

According to the Snowflake edition, the users can retrieve and set the different data reverting to the history of any account or an object’s particular time travel setup.

Fail-Safe, the User just does not have any control over the recovery of data and is also valuable merely after completing the period. 

30. What is zero-copy Cloning considered in Snowflake?

Ans: Advantages:

There is just no need for any administrative efforts as Cloning is as simple as a click of a button. 

No copy, just cloning these data exists only in one place.

They are promoting corrected or fixed data to the production instantly.

Conclusion  

The Snowflake, as mentioned earlier, interview questions hope this helped you to prepare for your interview. If you want to crack an interview, indeed, have a look at the questions or just revise using the questions as mentioned earlier.