ADA-C01 SnowPro Advanced: Administrator Certification Exam Questions and Answers

According to the Multi-cluster Warehouses documentation, auto-suspend is a feature that allows a warehouse to automatically suspend itself after a specified period of inactivity. For a multi-cluster warehouse, auto-suspend applies to the entire warehouse, not to individual clusters. Therefore, auto-suspend occurs when the minimum number of clusters is running and there is no activity for the specified period of time. The other options are incorrect because:

•A. Auto-suspend does not occur when there has been no activity on any cluster for the specified period of time. This would imply that each cluster has its own auto-suspend timer, which is not the case. The warehouse has a single auto-suspend timer that is reset by any activity on any cluster.

•B. Auto-suspend does not occur after a specified period of time when an additional cluster has started on the maximum number of clusters specified for a warehouse. This would imply that the auto-suspend timer is affected by the number of clusters running, which is not the case. The auto-suspend timer is only affected by the activity on the warehouse, regardless of the number of clusters running.

•D. Auto-suspend does apply for multi-cluster warehouses, as explained above. It is a feature that can be enabled or disabled for any warehouse, regardless of the number of clusters.

According to the Snowflake documentation1, future grants are a way to automatically grant privileges on future objects of a specific type that are created in a database or schema. By setting up future grants on the newly-created schemas, the administrator can ensure that any tables created by the developers in those schemas will be accessible by the DEV_TEAM role, without having to grant privileges on each table individually. Option A is incorrect because assigning ownership privilege to DEV_TEAM on the newly-created schema does not grant privileges on the tables in the schema, only on the schema itself. Option B is incorrect because assigning usage privilege on the virtual warehouse DEV_WH to the role JDOE_PROFILE does not affect the access to the tables in the schemas, only the ability to use the warehouse. Option D is incorrect because setting up the new schema as a managed-access schema does not grant privileges on the tables in the schema, but rather requires explicit grants for each table.

According to the [GRANT MODIFY] documentation, the MODIFY privilege on a data exchange allows a role to perform administrative tasks on the data exchange, such as inviting members, approving profiles, and reviewing listings. This privilege can be granted by the ACCOUNTADMIN role or a role that already has the MODIFY privilege on the data exchange. Therefore, to delegate the administration of a company’s data exchange to users who do not have access to the ACCOUNTADMIN role, the best option is to grant the MODIFY privilege on the data exchange to a role that the users can assume. The other options are incorrect because:

•A. There is no such privilege as IMPORTED PRIVILEGES in Snowflake. The correct privilege name is IMPORT SHARE, which allows a role to create a database from a share. This privilege is not related to the administration of a data exchange, but to the consumption of shared data.

•C. There is no such privilege as OWNERSHIP in Snowflake. The correct privilege name is OWNED BY, which indicates the role that owns an object and has full control over it. However, this privilege cannot be granted or revoked, but only transferred by the current owner to another role using the GRANT OWNERSHIP command. Therefore, this option is not feasible for delegating the administration of a data exchange.

•D. The USAGE privilege on a data exchange allows a role to access the data exchange and view the available data listings. This privilege does not allow a role to perform administrative tasks on the data exchange, such as inviting members, approving profiles, and reviewing listings. Therefore, this option is not sufficient for delegating the administration of a data exchange.

According to the AT | BEFORE documentation, the AT or BEFORE clause is used for Snowflake Time Travel, which allows you to query historical data from a table based on a specific point in the past. The clause can use one of the following parameters to pinpoint the exact historical data you wish to access:

•TIMESTAMP: Specifies an exact date and time to use for Time Travel.

•OFFSET: Specifies the difference in seconds from the current time to use for Time Travel.

•STATEMENT: Specifies the query ID of a statement to use as the reference point for Time Travel.

Therefore, the queries that will allow the user to view the historical data that was in the table before the query was executed are:

•B. SELECT * FROM my_table AT (TIMESTAMP => ‘2021-01-01 07:00:00’ :: timestamp); This query uses the TIMESTAMP parameter to specify a point in time that is before the query execution time of 07:01.

•D. SELECT * FROM my table PRIOR TO STATEMENT ‘8e5d0ca9-005e-44e6-b858-a8f5b37c5726’; This query uses the PRIOR TO STATEMENT keyword and the STATEMENT parameter to specify a point in time that is immediately preceding the query execution time of 07:01.

•F. SELECT * FROM my_table BEFORE (STATEMENT => ‘8e5d0ca9-005e-44e6-b858-a8f5b37c5726’); This query uses the BEFORE keyword and the STATEMENT parameter to specify a point in time that is immediately preceding the query execution time of 07:01.

The other queries are incorrect because:

•A. SELECT * FROM my table WITH TIME_TRAVEL (OFFSET => -60*30); This query uses the OFFSET parameter to specify a point in time that is 30 minutes before the current time, which is 07:30. This is after the query execution time of 07:01, so it will not show the historical data before the query was executed.

•C. SELECT * FROM TIME_TRAVEL (‘MY_TABLE’, 2021-01-01 07:00:00); This query is not valid syntax for Time Travel. The TIME_TRAVEL function does not exist in Snowflake. The correct syntax is to use the AT or BEFORE clause after the table name in the FROM clause.

•E. SELECT * FROM my_table AT (OFFSET => -60*30); This query uses the AT keyword and the OFFSET parameter to specify a point in time that is 30 minutes before the current time, which is 07:30. This is equal to the query execution time of 07:01, so it will not show the historical data before the query was executed. The AT keyword specifies that the request is inclusive of any changes made by a statement or transaction with timestamp equal to the specified parameter. To exclude the changes made by the query, the BEFORE keyword should be used instead.

According to the CREATE ACCOUNT documentation, the account name must be specified when the account is created, and it must be unique within an organization, regardless of which Snowflake Region the account is in. The other options are incorrect because:

•The account does not require at least one ORGADMIN role within one of the organization’s accounts. The account can be created by an organization administrator (i.e. a user with the ORGADMIN role) through the web interface or using SQL, but the new account does not inherit the ORGADMIN role from the existing account. The new account will have its own set of users, roles, databases, and warehouses.

•The account name is not immutable and can be changed. The account name can be modified by contacting Snowflake Support and requesting a name change. However, changing the account name may affect some features that depend on the account name, such as SSO or SCIM.

•The account name does not need to be unique among all Snowflake customers. The account name only needs to be unique within the organization, as the account URL also includes the region and cloud platform information. For example, two accounts with the same name can exist in different regions or cloud platforms, such as myaccount.us-east-1.snowflakecomputing.com and myaccount.eu-west-1.aws.snowflakecomputing.com.

According to the Accessing a Data Exchange documentation, a consumer account can request and get data from the Data Exchange using either the ACCOUNTADMIN role or a role with the IMPORT SHARE and CREATE DATABASE privileges. The ACCOUNTADMIN role is the top-level role that has all privileges on all objects in the account, including the ability to request and get data from the Data Exchange. A role with the IMPORT SHARE and CREATE DATABASE privileges can also request and get data from the Data Exchange, as these are the minimum privileges required to create a database from a share. The other options are incorrect because:

•A. The SYSADMIN role does not have the privilege to request and get data from the Data Exchange, unless it is also granted the IMPORT SHARE and CREATE DATABASE privileges. The SYSADMIN role is a pre-defined role that has all privileges on all objects in the account, except for the privileges reserved for the ACCOUNTADMIN role, such as managing users, roles, and shares.

•B. The SECURITYADMIN role does not have the privilege to request and get data from the Data Exchange, unless it is also granted the IMPORT SHARE and CREATE DATABASE privileges. The SECURITYADMIN role is a pre-defined role that has the privilege to manage security objects in the account, such as network policies, encryption keys, and security integrations, but not data objects, such as databases, schemas, and tables.

•E. The IMPORT PRIVILEGES and SHARED DATABASE are not valid privileges in Snowflake. The correct privilege names are IMPORT SHARE and CREATE DATABASE, as explained above.

According to the Snowflake documentation1, when a role is dropped, ownership of all objects owned by the dropped role is transferred to the role that is directly above the dropped role in the role hierarchy. This is to ensure that there is always a single owner for each object in the system.

1: Drop Role | Snowflake Documentation

According to the Snowflake documentation, when a database or schema is cloned, the clone inherits all granted privileges on the clones of all child objects contained in the source object, such as tables and views. However, the clone of the container itself does not inherit the privileges granted on the source container. Therefore, the ANALYST role will have SELECT privilege on all tables and views in DatabaseA_clone.Schema1, but not USAGE privilege on the database or schema. The type of view (secure or non-secure) does not affect the cloning of privileges.

The MINS_TO_BYPASS_MFA property allows the account administrator to temporarily disable MFA for a user who has lost their phone or changed their phone number1. The user can log in without MFA for the specified number of minutes, and then re-enroll in MFA using their new phone1. This does not revoke their MFA enrollment, unlike the DISABLE_MFA property, which cancels their enrollment and requires them to re-enroll from scratch1. The other options are not valid ways to bypass MFA, as SnowSQL does support MFA authentication2, and there is no such URL parameter as /?mode=mfa_bypass&code= for Snowflake3

According to the Snowflake documentation1, clustering keys are most effective when the data is evenly distributed across the key values. If the data is skewed, such as in this case where most sales come from only 20 stores out of 1000, then the micro-partitions will not be well-clustered and the pruning will be poor. This means that more bytes will be scanned by queries, even if they filter by STORE_ID. Option A is incorrect because the data type of the clustering key does not affect the pruning. Option B is incorrect because the table is large enough to benefit from clustering, if the data was more balanced. Option D is incorrect because the cardinality of the clustering key is not relevant for pruning, as long as the key values are distinct.

1: Considerations for Choosing Clustering for a Table | Snowflake Documentation

This code snippet will create a row access policy that returns true if the current role is ALL_ACCESS_ROLE or if the current role matches the region value in the entitlement_table. This means that the ALL_ACCESS_ROLE can see all rows regardless of region, while the other roles can only see rows for their own regions. According to the Snowflake documentation, the CURRENT_ROLE context function returns the name of the current role for the session. The EXISTS function returns true if the subquery returns any rows. The OR operator returns true if either operand is true. Therefore, this code snippet satisfies the requirements of the question.

The user needs the OPERATE privilege on the task to suspend and resume it, and the USAGE privilege on the database and schema containing the task to access it1. The EXECUTE TASK privilege is not required for suspending and resuming a task, only for triggering a new run1. The OWNERSHIP privilege on the task or the database and schema would allow the user to modify or drop the task, which is not desired.

According to the Using Persisted Query Results documentation, the RESULT_SCAN function allows you to query the result set of a previous command as if it were a table. The LAST_QUERY_ID function returns the query ID of the most recent statement executed in the current session. Therefore, the combination of these two functions can be used to access the output of the SHOW WAREHOUSES command, which returns the configurations of all the virtual warehouses in the account. However, to persist the warehouse data in JSON format in the table VWH_META, the OBJECT_CONSTRUCT function is needed to convert the output of the SHOW WAREHOUSES command into a VARIANT column. The OBJECT_CONSTRUCT function takes a list of key-value pairs and returns a single JSON object. Therefore, the correct commands to execute are:

1.SHOW WAREHOUSES;

2.INSERT INTO VWH_META SELECT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP (), OBJECT_CONSTRUCT (*) FROM TABLE (RESULT_SCAN (LAST_QUERY_ID ()));

The other options are incorrect because:

•A. This option does not use the OBJECT_CONSTRUCT function, so it will not persist the warehouse data in JSON format. Also, it is missing the * symbol in the SELECT clause, so it will not select any columns from the result set of the SHOW WAREHOUSES command.

•B. This option does not use the OBJECT_CONSTRUCT function, so it will not persist the warehouse data in JSON format. It will also try to insert multiple columns into a single VARIANT column, which will cause a type mismatch error.

•D. This option does not use the OBJECT_CONSTRUCT function, so it will not persist the warehouse data in JSON format. It will also try to use the RESULT_SCAN function on a subquery, which is not supported. The RESULT_SCAN function can only be used on a query ID or a table name.

According to the Snowflake documentation1, when an object in a schema is cloned, any future grants defined for this object type in the schema are applied to the cloned object unless the COPY GRANTS option is specified in the CREATE statement for the clone operation. However, some objects may still reference the source object or external objects after cloning, which may cause issues with access or functionality. These objects include:

•Sequences: If a table column references a sequence that generates default values, the cloned table may reference the source or cloned sequence, depending on where the sequence is defined. To avoid conflicts, the sequence reference should be re-pointed to the desired sequence using the ALTER TABLE command2.

•Storage integrations: If a stage or a table references a storage integration, the cloned object may still reference the source storage integration, which may not be accessible or valid in the new environment. To avoid errors, the storage integration reference should be re-pointed to the desired storage integration using the ALTER STAGE or ALTER TABLE command34.

•Views, secure views, and materialized views: If a view references another view or table, the cloned view may still reference the source object, which may not be accessible or valid in the new environment. To avoid errors, the view reference should be re-pointed to the desired object using the CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW command5.

1: Cloning Considerations | Snowflake Documentation 2: [ALTER TABLE | Snowflake Documentation] 3: [ALTER STAGE | Snowflake Documentation] 4: [ALTER TABLE | Snowflake Documentation] 5: [CREATE VIEW | Snowflake Documentation]

According to the Using OAuth 2.0 with Snowflake - Blog, only the ACCOUNTADMIN role can create and manage integrations, so an administrator must assume that role when creating a security integration for OAuth. The other roles do not have the necessary privileges to create the object required to setup OAuth 2.0 integration.

The SIMULATED_DATA_SHARING_CONSUMER session parameter allows a data provider to test the integrity of secure views based on the account that is accessing that view2. By setting this parameter to the name of the consumer account, the data provider can query the secure view and see the results that a user in the consumer account will see2. This helps to ensure that sensitive data in a shared database is not exposed to unauthorized users1. The other options are not valid session parameters in Snowflake3

According to the Snowflake documentation1, the SECURITYADMIN role is responsible for managing all grants on objects in the account, including system grants. The USERADMIN role can only create and manage users and roles, but not grant privileges on other objects. Therefore, the function that is unique to the SECURITYADMIN role is to manage system grants. Option A is incorrect because both roles can reset a user’s password. Option C is incorrect because both roles can create new users. Option D is incorrect because both roles can create new roles.