ARA-C01 Question 388
Single answerAuto-suspend/resumeA data engineering team runs hourly ELT jobs on a dedicated Snowflake virtual warehouse named ETL_WH. Outside of those hourly loads, the warehouse is rarely used. Finance has reported unnecessary compute charges during idle periods, but the team also wants the next scheduled job to start without requiring manual intervention. Which warehouse configuration change best addresses both requirements?
- A
Set AUTO_SUSPEND to a small value such as 60 seconds and enable AUTO_RESUME on ETL_WH
- B
Disable AUTO_SUSPEND and rely on resource monitors to stop compute spending during idle periods
- C
Keep AUTO_SUSPEND disabled and schedule a task to resume the warehouse before each load
- D
Enable AUTO_SUSPEND, but disable AUTO_RESUME so that suspended warehouses do not consume credits
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
For warehouses with intermittent usage patterns, Snowflake best practice is to configure AUTO_SUSPEND to a short interval and enable AUTO_RESUME. This minimizes compute charges during inactivity while preserving operational simplicity because incoming queries can automatically restart the warehouse. Resource monitors are useful for governance and spend control, but they are not a substitute for warehouse auto-suspension behavior. According to Snowflake warehouse management guidance, AUTO_SUSPEND helps avoid paying for idle compute time, and AUTO_RESUME allows suspended warehouses to restart automatically when new queries arrive.
- A. Correct.
Correct. Setting a low AUTO_SUSPEND value reduces wasted credits by suspending the warehouse shortly after it becomes idle. Enabling AUTO_RESUME allows the next query or job to start the warehouse automatically, which meets the requirement for unattended hourly processing. This is the standard cost-optimization pattern for intermittently used warehouses.
- B. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Resource monitors can notify or suspend warehouses after credit thresholds are reached, but they do not optimize normal idle behavior between workloads. If AUTO_SUSPEND is disabled, the warehouse can continue running and consuming credits while idle until a monitor action occurs, which is not the best solution for recurring idle gaps.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. This approach can work operationally, but it is unnecessarily complex and less reliable than native AUTO_RESUME. Leaving AUTO_SUSPEND disabled means the warehouse remains running and incurs charges during idle periods unless manually suspended. Scheduling resume events does not solve the core issue of idle compute spend.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. AUTO_SUSPEND does stop credit consumption once the warehouse is suspended, but disabling AUTO_RESUME conflicts with the requirement that the next scheduled job start automatically without manual intervention. Jobs may fail or require explicit warehouse startup logic if AUTO_RESUME is off.