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Snowflake ARA-C01 SnowPro Advanced: Architect Certification Exam Practice Test
Question 1
Two queries are run on the customer_address table:
create or replace TABLE CUSTOMER_ADDRESS ( CA_ADDRESS_SK NUMBER(38,0), CA_ADDRESS_ID VARCHAR(16), CA_STREET_NUMBER VARCHAR(IO) CA_STREET_NAME VARCHAR(60), CA_STREET_TYPE VARCHAR(15), CA_SUITE_NUMBER VARCHAR(10), CA_CITY VARCHAR(60), CA_COUNTY
VARCHAR(30), CA_STATE VARCHAR(2), CA_ZIP VARCHAR(10), CA_COUNTRY VARCHAR(20), CA_GMT_OFFSET NUMBER(5,2), CA_LOCATION_TYPE
VARCHAR(20) );
ALTER TABLE DEMO_DB.DEMO_SCH.CUSTOMER_ADDRESS ADD SEARCH OPTIMIZATION ON SUBSTRING(CA_ADDRESS_ID);
Which queries will benefit from the use of the search optimization service? (Select TWO).
Answer : A, B
The use of the search optimization service in Snowflake is particularly effective when queries involve operations that match exact substrings or start from the beginning of a string. The ALTER TABLE command adding search optimization specifically for substrings on the CA_ADDRESS_ID field allows the service to create an optimized search path for queries using substring matches.
Option A benefits because it directly matches a substring from the start of the CA_ADDRESS_ID, aligning with the optimization's capability to quickly locate records based on the beginning segments of strings.
Option B also benefits, despite performing a full equality check, because it essentially compares the full length of CA_ADDRESS_ID to a substring, which can leverage the substring index for efficient retrieval. Options C, D, and E involve patterns that do not start from the beginning of the string or use negations, which are not optimized by the search optimization service configured for starting substring matches. Reference: Snowflake's documentation on the use of search optimization for substring matching in SQL queries.
Question 2
A user has activated primary and secondary roles for a session.
What operation is the user prohibited from using as part of SQL actions in Snowflake using the secondary role?
Answer : B
In Snowflake, when a user activates a secondary role during a session, certain privileges associated with DDL (Data Definition Language) operations are restricted. The CREATE statement, which falls under DDL operations, cannot be executed using a secondary role. This limitation is designed to enforce role-based access control and ensure that schema modifications are managed carefully, typically reserved for primary roles that have explicit permissions to modify database structures. Reference: Snowflake's security and access control documentation specifying the limitations and capabilities of primary versus secondary roles in session management.
Question 3
An Architect is designing a solution that will be used to process changed records in an orders table. Newly-inserted orders must be loaded into the f_orders fact table, which will aggregate all the orders by multiple dimensions (time, region, channel, etc.). Existing orders can be updated by the sales department within 30 days after the order creation. In case of an order update, the solution must perform two actions:
1. Update the order in the f_0RDERS fact table.
2. Load the changed order data into the special table ORDER _REPAIRS.
This table is used by the Accounting department once a month. If the order has been changed, the Accounting team needs to know the latest details and perform the necessary actions based on the data in the order_repairs table.
What data processing logic design will be the MOST performant?
Answer : B
The most performant design for processing changed records, considering the need to both update records in the f_orders fact table and load changes into the order_repairs table, is to use one stream and two tasks. The stream will monitor changes in the orders table, capturing both inserts and updates. The first task would apply these changes to the f_orders fact table, ensuring all dimensions are accurately represented. The second task would use the same stream to insert relevant changes into the order_repairs table, which is critical for the Accounting department's monthly review. This method ensures efficient processing by minimizing the overhead of managing multiple streams and synchronizing between them, while also allowing specific tasks to optimize for their target operations. Reference: Snowflake's documentation on streams and tasks for handling data changes efficiently.
Question 4
An Architect needs to improve the performance of reports that pull data from multiple Snowflake tables, join, and then aggregate the data. Users access the reports using several dashboards. There are performance issues on Monday mornings between 9:00am-11:00am when many users check the sales reports.
The size of the group has increased from 4 to 8 users. Waiting times to refresh the dashboards has increased significantly. Currently this workload is being served by a virtual warehouse with the following parameters:
AUTO-RESUME = TRUE AUTO_SUSPEND = 60 SIZE = Medium
What is the MOST cost-effective way to increase the availability of the reports?
Answer : D
The most cost-effective way to increase the availability and performance of the reports during peak usage times, while keeping costs under control, is to use a multi-cluster warehouse in auto-scale mode. Option D suggests using a multi-cluster warehouse with 1 size Medium cluster and allowing it to auto-scale between 1 and 4 clusters based on demand. This setup ensures that additional computing resources are available when needed (e.g., during Monday morning peaks) and are scaled down to minimize costs when the demand decreases. This approach optimizes resource utilization and cost by adjusting the compute capacity dynamically, rather than maintaining a larger fixed size or multiple clusters continuously. Reference: Snowflake's official documentation on managing warehouses and using auto-scaling features.
Question 5
A company is following the Data Mesh principles, including domain separation, and chose one Snowflake account for its data platform.
An Architect created two data domains to produce two data products. The Architect needs a third data domain that will use both of the data products to create an aggregate data product. The read access to the data products will be granted through a separate role.
Based on the Data Mesh principles, how should the third domain be configured to create the aggregate product if it has been granted the two read roles?
Answer : D
In the scenario described, where a third data domain needs access to two existing data products in a Snowflake account structured according to Data Mesh principles, the best approach is to utilize Snowflake's Data Exchange functionality. Option D is correct as it facilitates the sharing and governance of data across different domains efficiently and securely. Data Exchange allows domains to publish and subscribe to live data products, enabling real-time data collaboration and access management in a governed manner. This approach is in line with Data Mesh principles, which advocate for decentralized data ownership and architecture, enhancing agility and scalability across the organization. Reference:
Snowflake Documentation on Data Exchange
Articles on Data Mesh Principles in Data Management
Question 6
A user is executing the following command sequentially within a timeframe of 10 minutes from start to finish:
What would be the output of this query?
Answer : A
The query is executing a clone operation on an existing table t_sales with an offset to account for the retention time. The syntax used is correct for cloning a table in Snowflake, and the use of the at(offset => -60*30) clause is valid. This specifies that the clone should be based on the state of the table 30 minutes prior (60 seconds * 30). Assuming the table t_sales exists and has been modified within the last 30 minutes, and considering the data_retention_time_in_days is set to 1 day (which enables time travel queries for the past 24 hours), the table t_sales_clone would be successfully created based on the state of t_sales 30 minutes before the clone command was issued.
Question 7
An Architect is troubleshooting a query with poor performance using the QUERY function. The Architect observes that the COMPILATION_TIME Is greater than the EXECUTION_TIME.
What is the reason for this?
Answer : B
The correct answer is B because the compilation time is the time it takes for the optimizer to create an optimal query plan for the efficient execution of the query. The compilation time depends on the complexity of the query, such as the number of tables, columns, joins, filters, aggregations, subqueries, etc. The more complex the query, the longer it takes to compile.
Option A is incorrect because the query processing time is not affected by the size of the dataset, but by the size of the virtual warehouse. Snowflake automatically scales the compute resources to match the data volume and parallelizes the query execution. The size of the dataset may affect the execution time, but not the compilation time.
Option C is incorrect because the query queue time is not part of the compilation time or the execution time. It is a separate metric that indicates how long the query waits for a warehouse slot before it starts running. The query queue time depends on the warehouse load, concurrency, and priority settings.
Option D is incorrect because the query remote IO time is not part of the compilation time or the execution time. It is a separate metric that indicates how long the query spends reading data from remote storage, such as S3 or Azure Blob Storage. The query remote IO time depends on the network latency, bandwidth, and caching efficiency.Reference:
All Official Question Types