ADA-C01 Question 527
Single answerAnalyze the impact of account replication on:A global company uses Snowflake account replication to maintain a secondary account in another region for disaster recovery. The primary account contains several databases, custom roles, users, network policies, resource monitors, and warehouses used by production workloads. During a failover planning exercise, the lead administrator asks which account-level objects and capabilities will be available in the secondary account after replication and failover, and which must be recreated or managed separately. Which statement best reflects the impact of account replication in this scenario?
- A
After failover, replicated databases and supported account objects such as users, roles, and network policies can be available in the secondary account, but compute resources like virtual warehouses are not replicated and must exist separately in the target account.
- B
After failover, all account objects including virtual warehouses, resource monitors, and integrations are automatically replicated, so the secondary account can resume processing without any additional account-level configuration.
- C
Account replication only copies database objects; users, roles, and other supported account objects are never included, so failover requires rebuilding all security and governance configuration manually.
- D
Because replication is asynchronous, the secondary account cannot be promoted for read/write use; replicated objects remain permanently read-only and are intended only for reporting.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The key administrative impact of Snowflake account replication is understanding the boundary between replicated metadata/state and non-replicated operational resources. Using replication groups and failover groups, Snowflake can replicate supported account objects along with databases, which helps preserve security and governance configuration for disaster recovery. However, administrators should not assume a fully self-contained runtime clone of the primary account. Virtual warehouses are not replicated and must be provisioned independently in the secondary account because compute is region/account specific. Additionally, replication is asynchronous, so recovery point expectations must account for lag. A well-designed DR plan therefore includes: identifying supported replicated object types, validating failover group membership, pre-creating or automating compute configuration in the target account, and testing promotion/failover procedures. This aligns with Snowflake documentation on replication and failover, especially guidance covering replication groups/failover groups, supported account objects, and limitations around compute resources.
- A. Correct.
Correct. Snowflake account replication can replicate supported account-level objects in addition to databases, including items such as users, roles, and certain policies, depending on replication group configuration and supported object types. However, compute resources are account/region-specific operational infrastructure and are not replicated as part of account replication. In practice, administrators must provision warehouses in the failover account and validate other non-replicated operational settings before cutover.
- B. Incorrect.
Incorrect. This reflects a common misconception that replication creates a complete like-for-like runtime environment. Snowflake does not replicate virtual warehouses, and not every account object is replicated automatically. Some objects are unsupported for replication or require separate configuration in the target account. Assuming no post-failover setup is needed can lead to an incomplete disaster recovery plan.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Account replication is broader than database replication alone. Snowflake supports replication of certain account objects through replication/failover groups, including security-related objects such as roles and users, along with other supported metadata. This option is too restrictive and ignores a major purpose of account replication: reducing manual rebuild effort for DR.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. While replication is asynchronous and therefore subject to replication lag, Snowflake supports failover/failback scenarios where a secondary can be promoted and become writable. The read-only state applies before promotion; it does not mean the secondary can never be used for production after failover.