COF-C03 Question 170
Single answerAccount identifiersA company has separate Snowflake accounts for development, test, and production. An engineer is updating automation that must connect to the production account from SnowSQL and from application code using a Snowflake driver. The engineer wants the connection configuration to remain valid even if the account is replicated across regions or if the organization later creates additional accounts with similar names. Which account identifier should the engineer use in the connection settings?
- A
The account locator by itself, because it is globally unique across all Snowflake organizations and regions
- B
The account name by itself, because Snowflake guarantees account names are unique worldwide
- C
The organization name and account name together, because this forms the organization-qualified account identifier
- D
The user login name and default role, because drivers can derive the target account from user metadata
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
For Snowflake clients such as SnowSQL, JDBC, ODBC, Python Connector, and other drivers, the recommended account identifier is the organization-qualified account name in the form <organization_name>-<account_name>. This is more readable and easier to manage than relying on older locator-based formats. It also aligns with Snowflake best practices for account identification in connection parameters and URLs. Account names are not globally unique by themselves, so using only the account name is insufficient. User attributes such as login name or role do not identify the target account. See Snowflake documentation on account identifiers and organization-qualified account names for connection configuration guidance.
- A. Incorrect.
Incorrect. The account locator is a system-generated identifier, but using the locator by itself is not the best choice for this requirement. In modern Snowflake connection patterns, the organization-qualified account name is recommended because it is easier to interpret and avoids ambiguity when managing multiple accounts. Also, the statement that the locator is globally unique across all organizations and regions is not the key reason to choose it here.
- B. Incorrect.
Incorrect. An account name alone is not sufficient in a multi-account environment because account names are unique only within an organization, not across all Snowflake customers. Using only the account name can create ambiguity and does not meet the requirement for a stable, fully qualified identifier.
- C. Correct.
Correct. The combination of organization name and account name creates the organization-qualified account identifier, which is the recommended identifier for connecting with clients and drivers. It is designed to uniquely identify the account in a human-readable way and is the best fit when an organization may add more accounts or operate in multiple regions/clouds.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. User login name and default role are authentication and session-context settings, not account identifiers. Snowflake drivers require the target account to be explicitly identified; they do not infer the account from a user's name and role.