These three design elements are required to meet the security, compliance, and governance requirements for the project.
* To use Tri-Secret Secure in Snowflake, the Business Critical edition of Snowflake is required. This edition provides enhanced data protection features, such as customer-managed encryption keys, that are not available in lower editions. Tri-Secret Secure is a feature that combines a Snowflake-maintained key and a customer-managed key to create a composite master key to encrypt the data in Snowflake1.
* To share some information stored in a view with another Snowflake customer, a secure view is recommended. A secure view is a view that hides the underlying data and the view definition from unauthorized users. Only the owner of the view and the users who are granted the owner’s role can see the view definition and the data in the base tables of the view2. A secure view can be shared with another Snowflake account using a data share3.
* To hide portions of sensitive information from some columns, Dynamic Data Masking can be used.
Dynamic Data Masking is a feature that allows applying masking policies to columns to selectively mask plain-text data at query time. Depending on the masking policy conditions and the user’s role, the data can be fully or partially masked, or shown as plain-text4.

This is the best practice recommendation for the order of priority when applications authenticate to Snowflake, according to the Snowflake documentation and the web search results. Authentication is the process of verifying the identity of a user or application that connects to Snowflake. Snowflake supports multiple authentication methods, each with different advantages and disadvantages. The recommended order of priority is based on the following factors:
Security: The authentication method should provide a high level of security and protection against unauthorized access or data breaches. The authentication method should also support multi-factor authentication (MFA) or single sign-on (SSO) for additional security.
Convenience: The authentication method should provide a smooth and easy user experience, without requiring complex or manual steps. The authentication method should also support seamless integration with external identity providers or applications.
Flexibility: The authentication method should provide a range of options and features to suit different use cases and scenarios. The authentication method should also support customization and configuration to meet specific requirements.
Based on these factors, the recommended order of priority is:
OAuth (either Snowflake OAuth or External OAuth): OAuth is an open standard for authorization that allows applications to access Snowflake resources on behalf of a user, without exposing the user’s credentials. OAuth provides a high level of security, convenience, and flexibility, as it supports MFA, SSO, token-based authentication, and various grant types and scopes. OAuth can be implemented using either Snowflake OAuth or External OAuth, depending on the identity provider and the application12.
External browser: External browser is an authentication method that allows users to log in to Snowflake using a web browser and an external identity provider, such as Okta, Azure AD, or Ping Identity. External browser provides a high level of security and convenience, as it supports MFA, SSO, and federated authentication. External browser also provides a consistent user interface and experience across different platforms and devices34.
Okta native authentication: Okta native authentication is an authentication method that allows users to log in to Snowflake using Okta as the identity provider, without using a web browser. Okta native authentication provides a high level of security and convenience, as it supports MFA, SSO, and federated authentication. Okta native authentication also provides a native user interface and experience for Okta users, and supports various Okta features, such as password policies and user management56.
Key Pair Authentication: Key Pair Authentication is an authentication method that allows users to log in to Snowflake using a public-private key pair, without using a password. Key Pair Authentication provides a high level of security, as it relies on asymmetric encryption and digital signatures. Key Pair Authentication also provides a flexible and customizable authentication option, as it supports various key formats, algorithms, and expiration times. Key Pair Authentication is mostly used for service account users, such as applications or scripts that connect to Snowflake programmatically7 .
Password: Password is the simplest and most basic authentication method that allows users to log in to Snowflake using a username and password. Password provides a low level of security, as it relies on symmetric encryption and is vulnerable to brute force attacks or phishing. Password also provides a low level of convenience and flexibility, as it requires manual input and management, and does not support MFA or SSO. Password is the least recommended authentication method, and should be used only as a last resort or for testing purposes .
Reference:
Snowflake Documentation: Snowflake OAuth
Snowflake Documentation: External OAuth
Snowflake Documentation: External Browser Authentication
Snowflake Blog: How to Use External Browser Authentication with Snowflake Snowflake Documentation: Okta Native Authentication Snowflake Blog: How to Use Okta Native Authentication with Snowflake Snowflake Documentation: Key Pair Authentication
[Snowflake Blog: How to Use Key Pair Authentication with Snowflake]
[Snowflake Documentation: Password Authentication]
[Snowflake Blog: How to Use Password Authentication with Snowflake]

Zero-copy cloning is a feature that allows creating a clone of a table, schema, or database without physically copying the data. Zero-copy cloning is suitable for scenarios where the cloned object needs to have the same data and metadata as the original object, and where the cloned object does not need to be modified or updated frequently. Zero-copy cloning is also suitable for scenarios where the cloned object needs to be shared within the same Snowflake account or across different accounts in the same cloud region2 However, zero-copy cloning is not suitable for scenarios where the cloned object needs to have different data or metadata than the original object, or where the cloned object needs to be modified or updated frequently. Zero-copy cloning is also not suitable for scenarios where the cloned object needs to be shared across different accounts in different cloud regions. In these scenarios, copying of data would be required, either by using the COPY INTO command or by using data sharing with secure views3 The following are examples of development and testing scenarios where copying of data would be required, and zero-copy cloning would not be suitable:
Developers create their own datasets to work against transformed versions of the live data. This scenario requires copying of data because the developers need to modify the data or metadata of the cloned object to perform transformations, such as adding, deleting, or updating columns, rows, or values. Zero-copy cloning would not be suitable because it would create a read-only clone that shares the same data and metadata as the original object, and any changes made to the clone would affect the original object as well4 Data is in a production Snowflake account that needs to be provided to Developers in a separate development/testing Snowflake account in the same cloud region. This scenario requires copying of data because the data needs to be shared across different accounts in the same cloud region. Zero-copy cloning would not be suitable because it would create a clone within the same account as the original object, and it would not allow sharing the clone with another account. To share data across different accounts in the same cloud region, data sharing with secure views or COPY INTO command can be used5 The following are examples of development and testing scenarios where zero-copy cloning would be suitable, and copying of data would not be required:
Production and development run in different databases in the same account, and Developers need to see production-like data but with specific columns masked. This scenario can use zero-copy cloning because the data needs to be shared within the same account, and the cloned object does not need to have different data or metadata than the original object. Zero-copy cloning can create a clone of the production database in the development database, and the clone can have the same data and metadata as the original database. To mask specific columns, secure views can be created on top of the clone, and the developers can access the secure views instead of the clone directly6 Developers create their own copies of a standard test database previously created for them in the development account, for their initial development and unit testing. This scenario can use zero-copy cloning because the data needs to be shared within the same account, and the cloned object does not need to have different data or metadata than the original object. Zero-copy cloning can create a clone of the standard test database for each developer, and the clone can have the same data and metadata as the original database. The developers can use the clone for their initial development and unit testing, and any changes made to the clone would not affect the original database or other clones7 The release process requires pre-production testing of changes with data of production scale and complexity. For security reasons, pre-production also runs in the production account. This scenario can use zero-copy cloning because the data needs to be shared within the same account, and the cloned object does not need to have different data or metadata than the original object. Zero-copy cloning can create a clone of the production database in the pre-production database, and the clone can have the same data and metadata as the original database. The pre-production testing can use the clone to test the changes with data of production scale and complexity, and any changes made to the clone would not affect the original database or the production environment8 Reference:
1: SnowPro Advanced: Architect | Study Guide 9
2: Snowflake Documentation | Cloning Overview
3: Snowflake Documentation | Loading Data Using COPY into a Table
4: Snowflake Documentation | Transforming Data During a Load
5: Snowflake Documentation | Data Sharing Overview
6: Snowflake Documentation | Secure Views
7: Snowflake Documentation | Cloning Databases, Schemas, and Tables
8: Snowflake Documentation | Cloning for Testing and Development
: SnowPro Advanced: Architect | Study Guide
: Cloning Overview
: Loading Data Using COPY into a Table
: Transforming Data During a Load
: Data Sharing Overview
: Secure Views
: Cloning Databases, Schemas, and Tables
: Cloning for Testing and Development

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.

A multi-cluster warehouse is a virtual warehouse that can scale compute resources by adding or removing clusters based on the workload demand. A multi-cluster warehouse can improve the performance of a particular workload by reducing the query queue time and the data spillage to local storage. To identify the specific days and virtual warehouses that would benefit from a multi-cluster warehouse, you need to analyze the query history and look for the following indicators:
High average queued load: This metric shows the average number of queries waiting in the queue for each warehouse cluster. A high value indicates that the warehouse is overloaded and cannot handle the concurrency demand.
High bytes spilled to local storage: This metric shows the amount of data that was spilled from memory to local disk during query processing. A high value indicates that the warehouse size is too small and cannot fit the data in memory.
High variation in workload: This metric shows the fluctuation in the number of queries submitted to the warehouse over time. A high variation indicates that the workload is unpredictable and dynamic, and requires a flexible scaling policy.
The query in option C is the best one to identify these indicators, as it selects the date, warehouse name, bytes spilled to local storage, and sum of average queued load from the query history table, and filters the results where bytes spilled to local storage is greater than zero. This query will show the days and warehouses that experienced data spillage and high queue time, and could benefit from a multi-cluster warehouse with auto-scale mode.
The query in option A is not correct, as it only selects the date and warehouse name, and does not include any metrics to measure the performance of the workload. The query in option B is not correct, as it selects the date, warehouse name, and average execution time, which is not a good indicator of the need for a multi-cluster warehouse. The query in option D is not correct, as it selects the date, warehouse name, and average credits used, which is not a good indicator of the need for a multi-cluster warehouse either.

The SHOW GRANTS command in Snowflake can be used to list all the access control privileges that have been explicitly granted to roles, users, and shares. The syntax and the output of the command vary depending on the object type and the grantee type specified in the command1. In this question, the two commands have the following meanings:
Command 1: show grants to user user_01; This command lists all the roles granted to the user user_01. The output includes the role name, the grantee name, and the granted by role name for each grant. This command is equivalent to show grants to user current_user if user_01 is the current user1.
Command 2: show grants on user user_01; This command lists all the privileges that have been granted on the user object user_01. The output includes the privilege name, the grantee name, and the granted by role name for each grant. This command shows which role owns the user object user_01, as the owner role has the privilege to modify or drop the user object2.
Therefore, the correct inference is that command 1 defines all the grants which are given to user_01, and command 2 defines which role owns user_01.
Reference:
SHOW GRANTS
Understanding Access Control in Snowflake

In a managed access schema, the privilege management is centralized with the schema owner, who has the authority to grant object privileges within the schema. Additionally, the SECURITYADMIN role has the capability to manage object grants globally, which includes within managed access schemas. Other roles, such as SYSADMIN or database owners, do not inherently have this privilege unless explicitly granted.

According to the SnowPro Advanced: Architect Exam Study Guide, to enable the search optimization service on a table, the user must have the ADD SEARCH OPTIMIZATION privilege on the table and the schema. The privilege can be granted explicitly or inherited from a higher-level object, such as a database or a role. The OWNERSHIP privilege on a table implies the ADD SEARCH OPTIMIZATION privilege, so the user who owns the table can enable the search optimization service on it. Therefore, the correct answer is to assume a role with OWNERSHIP on VPN_ACCESS_LOGS and ADD SEARCH OPTIMIZATION in the SECURITY_LOGS schema. This will allow the user to enable the search optimization service on the VPN_ACCESS_LOGS table and any future tables created in the SECURITY_LOGS schema. The other options are incorrect because they either grant excessive privileges or do not grant the required privileges on the table or the schema. Reference:
SnowPro Advanced: Architect Exam Study Guide, page 11, section 2.3.1
Snowflake Documentation: Enabling the Search Optimization Service

In Snowflake, a stream records data manipulation language (DML) changes to its base table since the stream was created or last consumed. STREAM_1 will show all changes including the TRUNCATE operation, while STREAM_2, being APPEND_ONLY, will not show deletions like TRUNCATE. Therefore, STREAM_1 will count the three inserts, the TRUNCATE (counted as a single operation), and the subsequent two inserts before the delete, totaling 4. STREAM_2 will only count the three initial inserts and the two after the TRUNCATE, totaling 3, as it does not count the TRUNCATE or the delete operation.
References: The explanation is based on the Snowflake documentation on streams, which details how streams track changes and the difference between standard and APPEND_ONLY streams12.

Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) is the Snowflake Access Control Framework that allows privileges to be granted by object owners to roles, and roles, in turn, can be assigned to users to restrict or allow actions to be performed on objects. A characteristic of RBAC as used in Snowflake is:
* Privileges can be granted at the database level and can be inherited by all underlying objects. This means that a role that has a certain privilege on a database, such as CREATE SCHEMA or USAGE, can also perform the same action on any schema, table, view, or other object within that database, unless explicitly revoked. This simplifies the access control management and reduces the number of grants required.
* A user can create managed access schemas to support future grants and ensure only schema owners can grant privileges to other roles. This means that a user can create a schema with the MANAGED ACCESS option, which changes the default behavior of object ownership and privilege granting within the schema. In a managed access schema, object owners lose the ability to grant privileges on their objects to other roles, and only the schema owner or a role with the MANAGE GRANTS privilege can do so. This enhances the security and governance of the schema and its objects.
The other options are not characteristics of RBAC as used in Snowflake:
* A user can use a “super-user” access along with securityadmin to bypass authorization checks and access all databases, schemas, and underlying objects. This is not true, as there is no such thing as a
“super-user” access in Snowflake. The securityadmin role is a predefined role that can manage users and roles, but it does not have any privileges on any database objects by default. To access any object, the securityadmin role must be explicitly granted the appropriate privilege by the object owner or another role with the grant option.
* A user can create managed access schemas to support current and future grants and ensure only object owners can grant privileges to other roles. This is not true, as this contradicts the definition of a managed access schema. In a managed access schema, object owners cannot grant privileges on their objects to other roles, and only the schema owner or a role with the MANAGE GRANTS privilege can do so.
References:
* Overview of Access Control
* A Functional Approach For Snowflake’s Role-Based Access Controls
* Snowflake Role-Based Access Control simplified
* Snowflake RBAC security prefers role inheritance to role composition
* Overview of Snowflake Role Based Access Control

This design meets all the requirements for the data pipeline. Snowpipe is a feature that enables continuous data loading into Snowflake from object storage using event notifications. It is efficient, scalable, and serverless, meaning it does not require any infrastructure or maintenance from the user. Streams and tasks are features that enable automated data pipelines within Snowflake, using change data capture and scheduled execution.
They are also efficient, scalable, and serverless, and they simplify the data transformation process. External functions are functions that can invoke external services or APIs from within Snowflake. They can be used to integrate with Amazon Comprehend and perform sentiment analysis on the data. The results can be written back to a Snowflake table using standard SQL commands. Snowflake Marketplace is a platform that allows data providers to share data with data consumers across different accounts, regions, and cloud platforms. It is a secure and easy way to make data publicly available to other companies.
References:
* Snowpipe Overview | Snowflake Documentation
* Introduction to Data Pipelines | Snowflake Documentation
* External Functions Overview | Snowflake Documentation
* Snowflake Data Marketplace Overview | Snowflake Documentation