SnowPro Associate: Platform Question 190
Single answer● StagesA data engineering team loads daily CSV files from an Amazon S3 bucket into Snowflake. The files are produced by another system and cannot be moved or duplicated into Snowflake-managed storage. The team wants to reference the files directly in Snowflake, use a named object that can be reused by multiple COPY INTO commands, and avoid storing cloud credentials directly in user SQL statements. Which Snowflake stage approach best meets these requirements?
- A
Create an external stage that points to the S3 bucket and references a storage integration
- B
Create an internal named stage and use PUT to upload the S3 files into Snowflake before loading
- C
Use the table stage for the target table and configure it to read files directly from the S3 bucket
- D
Use the user stage for each engineer so they can access the shared S3 files without additional configuration
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The best solution is to create a named external stage that points to the S3 bucket and uses a storage integration. This matches several real-world requirements at once: the data remains in cloud object storage, the stage can be reused by many load operations, and cloud credentials are not exposed in ad hoc SQL. In Snowflake, internal stages include user stages, table stages, and named internal stages, all of which store files in Snowflake-managed storage. External stages are used when files remain in locations such as Amazon S3, Azure Blob Storage, or Google Cloud Storage. Snowflake documentation and best practices recommend storage integrations for secure, manageable access to external cloud storage instead of hard-coding credentials in stage definitions or COPY commands.
- A. Correct.
Correct. An external stage is designed to reference data stored outside Snowflake, such as files in Amazon S3. Using a named external stage allows the team to reuse the object across multiple COPY INTO statements. Pairing it with a storage integration is the recommended best practice because it avoids embedding cloud credentials in SQL and centralizes secure access configuration.
- B. Incorrect.
Incorrect. An internal named stage stores files in Snowflake-managed storage and would require uploading the files with PUT. The scenario explicitly states that the files cannot be moved or duplicated into Snowflake-managed storage, so this does not meet the requirement.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. A table stage is an internal stage automatically associated with a table. It does not point directly to an external S3 location. This option reflects a common misconception that any stage can be configured to access cloud storage, but direct cloud references require an external stage.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. A user stage is also an internal Snowflake stage associated with a specific user. It is not intended for centralized shared access to external S3 files, and it cannot directly reference an S3 bucket without using an external stage.