ARA-C01 Question 145
Single answerSnowflake MarketplaceA data provider wants to commercialize a curated product catalog through Snowflake Marketplace. The catalog is refreshed hourly from source tables in the provider account. The provider has two requirements: subscribers must see near-real-time updates without the provider copying the data into each consumer account, and consumers must not be able to modify the shared data. Which approach best meets these requirements?
- A
Create a listing that shares a secure view or table from a share/database role so consumers access the provider-managed data directly as read-only.
- B
Export the catalog hourly to cloud object storage and publish the files through Marketplace so each consumer loads the data into their own writable tables.
- C
Replicate the provider database into every consumer account using database replication, then grant consumers read-write access to the replicated objects.
- D
Publish a Marketplace listing backed by a standard view that references external stages so consumers can update the underlying shared data through the view.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The best fit is a Marketplace listing backed by Secure Data Sharing using shared tables and/or secure views. This architecture is specifically designed to let providers publish live data products without copying the underlying data into each consumer account. Consumers query the shared objects as read-only data, while the provider continues to manage refreshes in its own account. This aligns with Snowflake best practices for Marketplace listings: use Secure Data Sharing for governed distribution, and use secure views when abstraction or logic protection is required. Relevant Snowflake documentation covers Snowflake Marketplace, Secure Data Sharing, reader/read-only consumption patterns, and secure views as the recommended way to expose curated datasets while protecting underlying implementation details.
- A. Correct.
Correct. Snowflake Marketplace listings are backed by Secure Data Sharing. The provider can share tables and secure views so consumers query the live provider-managed data without data copy into each consumer account. Shared data is read-only for consumers, which satisfies the immutability requirement. Because the source objects are refreshed hourly in the provider account, subscribers see updated results as the provider updates the shared objects.
- B. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Exporting to object storage and requiring each consumer to load files introduces unnecessary data movement and operational overhead. It also means consumers would typically create their own tables, which are writable, violating the requirement that shared data itself remain non-modifiable. This is not how Marketplace is designed to deliver governed, live shared datasets.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Database replication is intended for account/business continuity and cross-region or cross-account replication scenarios, not for distributing a commercial dataset to many Marketplace consumers. In addition, consumers do not get read-write access to provider-owned shared data through Marketplace; shared data is read-only.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Standard views are not valid for secure sharing in the same way secure views are. For data sharing and Marketplace, providers typically use tables and secure views to protect underlying logic and enforce governed access. Consumers also cannot update provider-owned shared data through a shared view.