COF-C03 Question 341
Single answerSnowflake MarketplaceA data engineering team wants to evaluate a third-party weather dataset from Snowflake Marketplace for a new analytics use case. The team needs to query the provider's data quickly without building ETL pipelines, and they want to avoid creating duplicate copies of the data in their account. Which approach should they use?
- A
Subscribe to the listing so Snowflake creates a database from a secure share, then query the shared data directly
- B
Download the dataset files from Marketplace into an internal stage, then load them into Snowflake tables with COPY INTO
- C
Replicate the provider's account objects into the consumer account so the team can query them locally without sharing
- D
Create a reader account for the provider's data and use it to import the dataset into the consumer's warehouse
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The best answer is to subscribe to the Marketplace listing and query the shared database directly. Snowflake Marketplace is built on Snowflake Secure Data Sharing, which allows providers to share live, read-only data with consumers without copying the underlying storage into the consumer account. This makes Marketplace well suited for rapid evaluation and analytics on third-party datasets. A common misconception is that Marketplace data must be downloaded and loaded like external files, but that defeats the no-copy sharing model. Another misconception is confusing Marketplace consumption with replication or reader accounts. Replication is a separate Snowflake capability, and reader accounts are mainly for sharing with users who do not have a Snowflake account. Relevant Snowflake documentation includes Snowflake Marketplace concepts and Secure Data Sharing behavior for consumer-created databases from shares.
- A. Correct.
Correct. Snowflake Marketplace listings are typically delivered to consumers through secure data sharing. When a consumer subscribes to a listing, Snowflake creates a database in the consumer account from the provider's share. The consumer can query the shared data directly without copying or moving the underlying data, which is exactly what the scenario requires.
- B. Incorrect.
Incorrect. This approach introduces unnecessary data movement and storage duplication. One of the main benefits of Snowflake Marketplace and secure sharing is that consumers can access shared data directly without downloading files or building ETL pipelines first.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Database replication is not how Marketplace data is consumed. Replication is used for supported cross-region or cross-cloud disaster recovery and business continuity scenarios, not as the mechanism for a consumer to access a provider's Marketplace listing.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Reader accounts are created by data providers to share data with parties that do not already have their own Snowflake account. In this scenario, the team is already using Snowflake Marketplace from its own account, so subscribing to the listing is the appropriate method. Reader accounts also do not describe importing Marketplace data into the consumer's warehouse.