ADA-C01 Question 448
Single answerUse Cross-cloud Data GovernanceA global company uses Snowflake in AWS us-east-1 as its primary account and must share governed customer data with a business unit that operates only in Azure West Europe. The security team requires that data remain centrally managed by the provider account, including masking and row access policies, and that the consumer must query the shared data without copying it into another system. Which Snowflake approach best meets these requirements?
- A
Create a database replication group from the AWS account to an Azure account, then let the consumer query the replicated database directly.
- B
Publish the governed data as a listing and allow the Azure consumer to access it through cross-cloud auto-fulfillment.
- C
Create a secure data share from the AWS account directly to the Azure account, because direct shares support cross-cloud access when policies are attached.
- D
Unload the governed tables to cloud storage in Parquet format and register them as external tables in the Azure account.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
The best answer is to publish the data as a listing and use cross-cloud auto-fulfillment. In Snowflake, direct secure sharing works only within the same region. When the consumer is in a different region or on a different cloud platform, providers typically use listings, including private listings for internal or controlled sharing scenarios. Snowflake's auto-fulfillment capability supports cross-region and cross-cloud sharing by making the data product available to the consumer while keeping the provider in control of the shared asset. This aligns with cross-cloud data governance goals because the provider manages the shared data product and its access model rather than requiring custom export/import workflows. From an exam perspective, the key distinction is: direct share for same-region sharing, listing plus auto-fulfillment for cross-region or cross-cloud governed sharing. Relevant Snowflake documentation includes secure data sharing concepts, listings/Marketplace data product sharing, and auto-fulfillment for cross-region and cross-cloud access.
- A. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Replication copies database objects and data to another account for business continuity, disaster recovery, or regional availability scenarios, but it is not the best mechanism here for centrally governed live sharing across clouds. Replication creates a separate copy in the target account, which is different from the requirement to let the consumer query provider-managed shared data through a governed sharing model. It also adds replication administration and does not represent Snowflake's cross-cloud data governance sharing pattern.
- B. Correct.
Correct. Listings with cross-cloud auto-fulfillment are designed for sharing data products across regions and clouds when direct sharing is not possible. Snowflake can automatically fulfill the listing to the consumer's region/cloud while preserving provider-controlled governance of the shared data product. This is the practical cross-cloud governance approach for a provider that must share data from AWS to an Azure consumer without requiring the consumer to build their own ingestion pipeline.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. A common misconception is that secure data sharing works the same way across all regions and clouds. Direct secure shares are limited to accounts in the same region. For consumers in a different region or cloud, the provider should use a listing, and Snowflake can use auto-fulfillment for cross-region or cross-cloud access. Attaching masking or row access policies does not remove the region/cloud limitation of direct shares.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Unloading to cloud storage and exposing external tables moves the solution outside Snowflake's governed sharing model and introduces data-copying and lifecycle-management overhead. It also shifts governance enforcement away from Snowflake-native sharing controls and does not satisfy the goal of centrally managed, provider-controlled access in the intended way.