ARA-C01 Question 136
Single answerSharing across cloud regionsA data provider has a Snowflake account in AWS us-east-1 and needs to share a curated database with two consumers: one consumer account is in AWS eu-west-1, and another is in Azure East US 2. The provider wants the consumers to query shared data without receiving copied files and wants to minimize ongoing operational overhead. Which approach should the architect recommend?
- A
Create a standard direct share from the provider account to both consumer accounts, because Secure Data Sharing works the same way across all regions and clouds.
- B
Use database replication or failover groups to copy the database into provider-owned accounts in the target regions/clouds, then create shares locally from those replicated databases to the consumer accounts.
- C
Export the curated tables to external stages in each target region/cloud and instruct consumers to create external tables over the files.
- D
Create a listing for the data and require both consumers to query it through the provider account using reader accounts, because reader accounts support cross-region and cross-cloud access without replication.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
Snowflake Secure Data Sharing is zero-copy, but native direct sharing is scoped to accounts in the same region. When consumers are in different regions or different clouds, the recommended architecture is to first replicate the database using database replication or a failover group into a Snowflake account in the target region/cloud and then create a share from that local replica to the consumer account. This approach minimizes ongoing operational overhead compared with file exports and preserves Snowflake-native consumption patterns. Snowflake documentation on Secure Data Sharing, database replication, and failover groups describes these cross-region and cross-cloud design patterns. An architect should recognize both the benefits of secure sharing and its geographic/cloud boundaries, then choose replication-based sharing to satisfy cross-region and cross-cloud consumer requirements.
- A. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Standard direct Secure Data Sharing is designed for accounts within the same Snowflake region. It does not by itself allow a provider in AWS us-east-1 to directly share live database objects to consumer accounts in AWS eu-west-1 or Azure East US 2. Candidates may choose this if they know shares are zero-copy, but the key limitation is region/cloud scope.
- B. Correct.
Correct. For cross-region or cross-cloud sharing, the provider typically uses database replication or failover groups to make the data available in a Snowflake account in the target region/cloud, then creates a local share from that regional copy. This preserves Snowflake-native sharing for consumers and avoids distributing files manually. It is the practical architecture when consumers are in other regions or on another cloud platform.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Exporting files to stages and having consumers build external tables is a valid data distribution pattern in some cases, but it does not meet the goal of Snowflake-native sharing with minimal operational overhead. It introduces file management, metadata refresh considerations, and removes several advantages of secure sharing such as direct object sharing semantics.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Reader accounts are created by the provider for customers who do not already have a Snowflake account, but they do not remove the underlying regional/cloud constraints for the shared data location. This option also changes the requirement by forcing access through provider-managed reader accounts rather than sharing to the consumers' existing Snowflake accounts.