COF-C03 Question 339
Single answer5.3 Share data using the Snowflake Marketplace and listingsA data provider wants to monetize a curated dataset by making it discoverable to many external Snowflake customers without creating and managing a separate direct share for each consumer account. The provider also wants consumers to access the shared data in their own Snowflake accounts without copying the data. Which approach should the provider use?
- A
Create a listing for the dataset and publish it through the Snowflake Marketplace so consumers can install it as a database in their accounts
- B
Create a reader account for every potential customer and load a copy of the dataset into each reader account
- C
Export the dataset to external cloud storage and ask each customer to create an external stage and load the files into their own tables
- D
Use database replication to replicate the provider's database into each customer's Snowflake account
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
For scalable distribution of a data product to many external Snowflake customers, the provider should use a listing and publish it through the Snowflake Marketplace. Listings are the Snowflake-native mechanism for packaging and exposing shared datasets for discovery and controlled access. This approach avoids creating separate direct shares for each consumer and supports zero-copy sharing, where consumers query shared data from their own accounts without the provider duplicating the dataset for each recipient. In contrast, direct shares are commonly used for targeted account-to-account sharing, reader accounts are for non-Snowflake customers, external file export requires copying and reloading data, and replication is not intended for Marketplace distribution. This aligns with Snowflake best practices and documentation on data sharing, listings, and the Snowflake Marketplace.
- A. Correct.
Correct. A listing published through the Snowflake Marketplace is designed for broad data distribution and discovery. Marketplace listings allow providers to share data products with many Snowflake customers without managing individual direct shares for each account. Consumers can access the data from within their own Snowflake accounts, typically by creating or installing a database from the listing, and the underlying shared data is not copied into each consumer account as part of the sharing model.
- B. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Reader accounts are intended for consumers who do not already have their own Snowflake account. Creating a separate reader account for every customer would increase operational overhead and does not align with the requirement to make the dataset discoverable to many existing Snowflake customers through a scalable distribution model. It also is not the Marketplace/listings-based approach requested by the scenario.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Exporting data to cloud storage and having customers reload it introduces data copies, additional ingestion work, and lifecycle management complexity. This does not use Snowflake sharing through listings or the Marketplace, and it conflicts with the requirement for consumers to access the data without copying it.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Database replication is for business continuity, disaster recovery, and environment synchronization across regions/accounts under organizational control, not for distributing a monetized data product to many external customers. Replication would also not be the standard mechanism for Marketplace-based data sharing.