SnowPro™ Core Certification Companion: Hands-on Preparation and Practice (Certification Study Companion Series)

✍ Scribed by Maja Ferle

• Publisher: Apress
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 354
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This study companion helps you prepare for the SnowPro Core Certification exam. The author  guides your studies so you will not have to tackle the exam by yourself. To help you track your progress, chapters in this book correspond to the exam domains as described on Snowflake’s website. Upon studying the material in this book, you will have solid knowledge that should give you the best shot possible at taking and passing the exam and earning the certification you deserve. 
Each chapter provides explanations, instructions, guidance, tips, and other information with the level of detail that you need to prepare for the exam. You will not waste your time with unneeded detail and advanced content which is out of scope of the exam. Focus is kept on reviewing the materials and helping you become familiar with the content of the exam that is recommended by Snowflake.
This Book Helps You

• Review the domains that Snowflake specifically recommends you study in preparation for Exam COF-C02
• Identify gaps in your knowledge that you can study and fill in to increase your chances of passing Exam COF-C02
• Level up your knowledge even if not taking the exam, so you know the same material as someone who has taken the exam
• Learn how to set up a Snowflake account and configure access according to recommended security best practices
• Be capable of loading structured and unstructured data into Snowflake as well as unloading data from Snowflake
• Understand how to apply Snowflake data protection features such as cloning, time travel, and fail safe
• Review Snowflake’s data sharing capabilities, including data marketplace and data exchange

Who This Book Is For
Those who are planning to take the SnowPro Core Certification COF-C02 exam, and anyone who wishes to gain core expertise in implementing and migrating to the Snowflake Data Cloud

✦ Table of Contents

Table of Contents
About the Author
About the Technical Reviewer
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1: Exam Overview
Exam Content
Exam Subject Areas
Exam Format
Supplementary Study Materials
Signing Up for a Free Trial
Sign-up Process
Trial Expiration
Registering for the Exam
Create a Snowflake Certification Portal Account
Start the Application
Schedule the Exam
Rescheduling and Cancellation Policy
Exam Results and Retake Policy
Recertification
Summary
Chapter 2: Introduction to the Snowflake Cloud Data Platform
Snowflake as a Cloud Service
Supported Cloud Platforms
Supported Cloud Regions
Snowflake Editions
Standard Edition
Enterprise Edition
Business Critical Edition
Virtual Private Snowflake (VPS)
Snowflake Releases
The Snowflake Web Interface
User Menu
Worksheets
Dashboards
Data
Snowflake Marketplace
Activity
Admin
Partner Connect
Help & Support
SnowSQL
Install SnowSQL
Configure SnowSQL
Connectors and Drivers
Setting Up Your Snowflake Account
Create a Virtual Warehouse
Configure the Snowflake Sample Database
Summary
Chapter 3: Snowflake Architecture
Architecture Layers
Database Storage
Query Processing
Cloud Services
Snowflake Objects
Tables
Permanent Tables
Temporary Tables
Transient Tables
Views
Data Types
Numeric Data Types
String and Binary Data Types
Logical Data Types
Date and Time Data Types
Semi-Structured Data Types
Geospatial Data Types
User-Defined Functions
Stored Procedures
Comparing UDFs and Stored Procedures
Streams
Creating Streams
Consuming Streams
Types of Streams
Tasks
Sequences
Summary
Chapter 4: Account Access and Security
Account Identifiers
Legacy Format
Account Name Within an Organization
Parameter Management
Network Security and Policies
User Authentication
Multi-Factor Authentication
Federated Authentication
Session Policies
Access Control
Securable Objects
Users
Roles
System-Defined Roles
Custom Roles
Granting and Revoking Privileges
Role Hierarchy and Privilege Inheritance
Setting Primary and Secondary Roles
Summary
Chapter 5: Storage and Performance Concepts
Micro-partitions
Data Clustering
Clustered Tables
Clustering Keys
Reclustering
Data Storage Monitoring
Search Optimization Service
Choosing Tables for Search Optimization
Choosing Queries for Search Optimization
Using Tables with Search Optimization
Cost of Search Optimization
The Query Profile Tool
Data Spilling
Data Caching
Micro-partition Pruning
Query History
Explain Execution Plan
Summary
Chapter 6: Virtual Warehouses
Warehouse Size
Multi-cluster Warehouses
Multi-cluster Warehouse Modes
Multi-cluster Warehouse Scaling Policies
Examples of Multi-cluster Credit Usage
Warehouse Scaling
Scaling Up
Scaling Out
Working with Warehouses
Creating a Warehouse
Starting or Resuming a Warehouse
Suspending a Warehouse
Resizing a Warehouse
Using a Warehouse
Monitoring Warehouse Loads
Warehouse Billing
Billing for User-Managed Warehouses
Billing for Cloud Services
Resource Monitors
Summary
Chapter 7: Data Loading and Unloading
Preparing Files for Data Loading
File Formats and Encoding
File Compression and Encryption
File Sizing Best Practices
Folder Structures
File Formats
Sample File and Table for Loading
Loading Using the Web Interface
Loading from Cloud Storage
Creating an External Stage
Directory Tables
Using the COPY Command
Copy Options
Lists of Files
Preventing Data Duplication
Validation Before Using the COPY Command
Removing Staged Files
Load History
Loading from the Local File System
Types of Internal Stages
Loading Files into an Internal Stage
Using the COPY Command
Loading Continuously Using Snowpipe
Detecting Staged Files
File Sizing for Snowpipe
Preventing Data Duplication
Creating a Storage Integration
Creating a Pipe
Removing Staged Files
Loading Using External Tables
Data Unloading
Unloading into Single or Multiple Files
Using the COPY and GET Commands
Summary
Chapter 8: Data Transformation
Data Sampling
Estimating Functions
Computing the Number of Distinct Values
Estimating Similarity of Two or More Sets
Estimating Frequent Values
Estimating Percentile Values
Post-Processing Query Results
Semi-Structured Data
Supported Semi-Structured Data Formats
Loading Semi-Structured Data
Detection of Column Definitions
Querying Semi-Structured Data
Selecting First-Level Elements
Using the FLATTEN Function
Using the GET Function
Querying Semi-Structured Data from a Stage
NULL Values
Unstructured Data
Working with Pre-Signed URLs
Working with Scoped or File URLs
Materialized Views
Comparison with Regular Views
Comparison with Tables and Cached Results
Materialized Views in the Query Optimizer
Privileges Related to Materialized Views
Creating Materialized Views
Limitations on Creating Materialized Views
Adding Clustering Keys to Materialized Views
Summary
Chapter 9: Data Protection
Time Travel
Data Retention Period
Querying Historical Data
Cloning Historical Objects
Dropping and Restoring Objects
Failsafe
Cost for Time Travel and Failsafe
Data Encryption
Client-Side Encryption
Key Rotation
Periodic Rekeying
Customer-Managed Keys
Tri-Secret Secure
Cloning
Database Replication
Replication Restrictions
Billing for Database Replication
Working with Database Replication
Summary
Chapter 10: Data Sharing
Secure Data Sharing
Snowflake Share Object
Reader Accounts
Direct Share
Creating a Direct Share
Consuming a Direct Share
Creating a Reader Account
Configuring a Reader Account
Snowflake Marketplace
Types of Data Listings
Get or Request Listings
Become a Provider
Data Exchange
Secure Views
Creating Secure Views
Best Practices for Using Secure Views
Secure User Defined Functions
Creating Secure UDFs
Best Practices for Secure UDFs
Summary
Chapter 11: SQL Scripting and Snowpark
Snowflake Scripting
Snowflake Scripting Blocks
Declaring Variables
Assigning Values to Variables
Branching and Loops
Cursors
Number of Rows Affected
Query ID of the Last Query
Handling Exceptions
More Information
Snowpark
Creating UDFs
Data Frames
More Information
What’s Next
Index