Snowflake ARA-C01 Practice Exams
Last updated on Oct 21,2026- Exam Code: ARA-C01
- Exam Name: SnowPro Advanced Architect Certification
- Certification Provider: Snowflake
- Latest update: Oct 21,2026
Question #91
An Architect needs to design a data unloading strategy for Snowflake, that will be used with the COPY INTO <location> command.
Which configuration is valid?
- A . Location of files: Snowflake internal location
. File formats: CSV, XML
. File encoding: UTF-8
. Encryption: 128-bit - B . Location of files: Amazon S3
. File formats: CSV, JSON
. File encoding: Latin-1 (ISO-8859)
. Encryption: 128-bit - C . Location of files: Google Cloud Storage
. File formats: Parquet
. File encoding: UTF-8
・ Compression: gzip - D . Location of files: Azure ADLS
. File formats: JSON, XML, Avro, Parquet, ORC
. Compression: bzip2
. Encryption: User-supplied key
Correct Answer: C
C
Explanation:
For the configuration of data unloading in Snowflake, the valid option among the provided choices is "C." This is because Snowflake supports unloading data into Google Cloud Storage using the COPY INTO <location> command with specific configurations. The configurations listed in option C, such as Parquet file format with UTF-8 encoding and gzip compression, are all supported by Snowflake.
Notably, Parquet is a columnar storage file format, which is optimal for high-performance data processing tasks in Snowflake. The UTF-8 file encoding and gzip compression are both standard and widely used settings that are compatible with Snowflake’s capabilities for data unloading to cloud storage platforms.
Reference: Snowflake Documentation on COPY INTO command
Snowflake Documentation on Supported File Formats
Snowflake Documentation on Compression and Encoding Options
C
Explanation:
For the configuration of data unloading in Snowflake, the valid option among the provided choices is "C." This is because Snowflake supports unloading data into Google Cloud Storage using the COPY INTO <location> command with specific configurations. The configurations listed in option C, such as Parquet file format with UTF-8 encoding and gzip compression, are all supported by Snowflake.
Notably, Parquet is a columnar storage file format, which is optimal for high-performance data processing tasks in Snowflake. The UTF-8 file encoding and gzip compression are both standard and widely used settings that are compatible with Snowflake’s capabilities for data unloading to cloud storage platforms.
Reference: Snowflake Documentation on COPY INTO command
Snowflake Documentation on Supported File Formats
Snowflake Documentation on Compression and Encoding Options
Question #92
Load the changed order data into the special table ORDER _REPAIRS.
This table is used by the Accounting department once a month. If the order has been changed, the Accounting team needs to know the latest details and perform the necessary actions based on the data in the order_repairs table.
What data processing logic design will be the MOST performant?
- A . Use one stream and one task.
- B . Use one stream and two tasks.
- C . Use two streams and one task.
- D . Use two streams and two tasks.
Correct Answer: B
B
Explanation:
The most performant design for processing changed records, considering the need to both update records in the f_orders fact table and load changes into the order_repairs table, is to use one stream and two tasks. The stream will monitor changes in the orders table, capturing both inserts and updates. The first task would apply these changes to the f_orders fact table, ensuring all dimensions are accurately represented. The second task would use the same stream to insert relevant changes into the order_repairs table, which is critical for the Accounting department’s monthly review. This method ensures efficient processing by minimizing the overhead of managing multiple streams and synchronizing between them, while also allowing specific tasks to optimize for their target operations.
Reference: Snowflake’s documentation on streams and tasks for handling data changes efficiently.
B
Explanation:
The most performant design for processing changed records, considering the need to both update records in the f_orders fact table and load changes into the order_repairs table, is to use one stream and two tasks. The stream will monitor changes in the orders table, capturing both inserts and updates. The first task would apply these changes to the f_orders fact table, ensuring all dimensions are accurately represented. The second task would use the same stream to insert relevant changes into the order_repairs table, which is critical for the Accounting department’s monthly review. This method ensures efficient processing by minimizing the overhead of managing multiple streams and synchronizing between them, while also allowing specific tasks to optimize for their target operations.
Reference: Snowflake’s documentation on streams and tasks for handling data changes efficiently.
Question #92
Load the changed order data into the special table ORDER _REPAIRS.
This table is used by the Accounting department once a month. If the order has been changed, the Accounting team needs to know the latest details and perform the necessary actions based on the data in the order_repairs table.
What data processing logic design will be the MOST performant?
- A . Use one stream and one task.
- B . Use one stream and two tasks.
- C . Use two streams and one task.
- D . Use two streams and two tasks.
Correct Answer: B
B
Explanation:
The most performant design for processing changed records, considering the need to both update records in the f_orders fact table and load changes into the order_repairs table, is to use one stream and two tasks. The stream will monitor changes in the orders table, capturing both inserts and updates. The first task would apply these changes to the f_orders fact table, ensuring all dimensions are accurately represented. The second task would use the same stream to insert relevant changes into the order_repairs table, which is critical for the Accounting department’s monthly review. This method ensures efficient processing by minimizing the overhead of managing multiple streams and synchronizing between them, while also allowing specific tasks to optimize for their target operations.
Reference: Snowflake’s documentation on streams and tasks for handling data changes efficiently.
B
Explanation:
The most performant design for processing changed records, considering the need to both update records in the f_orders fact table and load changes into the order_repairs table, is to use one stream and two tasks. The stream will monitor changes in the orders table, capturing both inserts and updates. The first task would apply these changes to the f_orders fact table, ensuring all dimensions are accurately represented. The second task would use the same stream to insert relevant changes into the order_repairs table, which is critical for the Accounting department’s monthly review. This method ensures efficient processing by minimizing the overhead of managing multiple streams and synchronizing between them, while also allowing specific tasks to optimize for their target operations.
Reference: Snowflake’s documentation on streams and tasks for handling data changes efficiently.
Question #94
A company is designing its serving layer for data that is in cloud storage. Multiple terabytes of the data will be used for reporting. Some data does not have a clear use case but could be useful for experimental analysis. This experimentation data changes frequently and is sometimes wiped out and replaced completely in a few days.
The company wants to centralize access control, provide a single point of connection for the end-users, and maintain data governance.
What solution meets these requirements while MINIMIZING costs, administrative effort, and development overhead?
- A . Import the data used for reporting into a Snowflake schema with native tables. Then create external tables pointing to the cloud storage folders used for the experimentation data. Then create two different roles with grants to the different datasets to match the different user personas, and grant these roles to the corresponding users.
- B . Import all the data in cloud storage to be used for reporting into a Snowflake schema with native tables. Then create a role that has access to this schema and manage access to the data through that role.
- C . Import all the data in cloud storage to be used for reporting into a Snowflake schema with native tables. Then create two different roles with grants to the different datasets to match the different user personas, and grant these roles to the corresponding users.
- D . Import the data used for reporting into a Snowflake schema with native tables. Then create views that have SELECT commands pointing to the cloud storage files for the experimentation data. Then create two different roles to match the different user personas, and grant these roles to the corresponding users.
Correct Answer: A
A
Explanation:
The most cost-effective and administratively efficient solution is to use a combination of native and external tables. Native tables for reporting data ensure performance and governance, while external tables allow for flexibility with frequently changing experimental data. Creating roles with specific grants to datasets aligns with the principle of least privilege, centralizing access control and simplifying user management12.
Reference
• Snowflake Documentation on Optimizing Cost1.
• Snowflake Documentation on Controlling Cost2.
A
Explanation:
The most cost-effective and administratively efficient solution is to use a combination of native and external tables. Native tables for reporting data ensure performance and governance, while external tables allow for flexibility with frequently changing experimental data. Creating roles with specific grants to datasets aligns with the principle of least privilege, centralizing access control and simplifying user management12.
Reference
• Snowflake Documentation on Optimizing Cost1.
• Snowflake Documentation on Controlling Cost2.
Question #95
An Architect has a design where files arrive every 10 minutes and are loaded into a primary database table using Snowpipe. A secondary database is refreshed every hour with the latest data from the primary database.
Based on this scenario, what Time Travel query options are available on the secondary database?
- A . A query using Time Travel in the secondary database is available for every hourly table version within the retention window.
- B . A query using Time Travel in the secondary database is available for every hourly table version within and outside the retention window.
- C . Using Time Travel, secondary database users can query every iterative version within each hour (the individual Snowpipe loads) in the retention window.
- D . Using Time Travel, secondary database users can query every iterative version within each hour (the individual Snowpipe loads) and outside the retention window.
Correct Answer: A
A
Explanation:
Snowflake’s Time Travel feature allows users to query historical data within a defined retention period. In the given scenario, since the secondary database is refreshed every hour, Time Travel can be used to query each hourly version of the table as long as it falls within the retention window. This does not include individual Snowpipe loads within each hour unless they coincide with the hourly refresh.
Reference: The answer is verified using Snowflake’s official documentation, which provides detailed information on Time Travel and its usage within the retention period123.
A
Explanation:
Snowflake’s Time Travel feature allows users to query historical data within a defined retention period. In the given scenario, since the secondary database is refreshed every hour, Time Travel can be used to query each hourly version of the table as long as it falls within the retention window. This does not include individual Snowpipe loads within each hour unless they coincide with the hourly refresh.
Reference: The answer is verified using Snowflake’s official documentation, which provides detailed information on Time Travel and its usage within the retention period123.
Question #96
How does a standard virtual warehouse policy work in Snowflake?
- A . It conserves credits by keeping running clusters fully loaded rather than starting additional clusters.
- B . It starts only if the system estimates that there is a query load that will keep the cluster busy for at least 6 minutes.
- C . It starts only f the system estimates that there is a query load that will keep the cluster busy for at least 2 minutes.
- D . It prevents or minimizes queuing by starting additional clusters instead of conserving credits.
Correct Answer: D
D
Explanation:
A standard virtual warehouse policy is one of the two scaling policies available for multi-cluster warehouses in Snowflake. The other policy is economic. A standard policy aims to prevent or minimize queuing by starting additional clusters as soon as the current cluster is fully loaded, regardless of the number of queries in the queue. This policy can improve query performance and concurrency, but it may also consume more credits than an economic policy, which tries to conserve credits by keeping the running clusters fully loaded before starting additional clusters. The scaling policy can be set when creating or modifying a warehouse, and it can be changed at any time.
Reference: Snowflake Documentation: Multi-cluster Warehouses
Snowflake Documentation: Scaling Policy for Multi-cluster Warehouses
D
Explanation:
A standard virtual warehouse policy is one of the two scaling policies available for multi-cluster warehouses in Snowflake. The other policy is economic. A standard policy aims to prevent or minimize queuing by starting additional clusters as soon as the current cluster is fully loaded, regardless of the number of queries in the queue. This policy can improve query performance and concurrency, but it may also consume more credits than an economic policy, which tries to conserve credits by keeping the running clusters fully loaded before starting additional clusters. The scaling policy can be set when creating or modifying a warehouse, and it can be changed at any time.
Reference: Snowflake Documentation: Multi-cluster Warehouses
Snowflake Documentation: Scaling Policy for Multi-cluster Warehouses
Question #97
A company wants to Integrate its main enterprise identity provider with federated authentication with Snowflake.
The authentication integration has been configured and roles have been created in Snowflake. However, the users are not automatically appearing in Snowflake when created and their group membership is not reflected in their assigned rotes.
How can the missing functionality be enabled with the LEAST amount of operational overhead?
- A . OAuth must be configured between the identity provider and Snowflake. Then the authorization server must be configured with the right mapping of users and roles.
- B . OAuth must be configured between the identity provider and Snowflake. Then the authorization
server must be configured with the right mapping of users, and the resource server must be configured with the right mapping of role assignment. - C . SCIM must be enabled between the identity provider and Snowflake. Once both are synchronized through SCIM, their groups will get created as group accounts in Snowflake and the proper roles can be granted.
- D . SCIM must be enabled between the identity provider and Snowflake. Once both are synchronized through SCIM. users will automatically get created and their group membership will be reflected as roles In Snowflake.
Correct Answer: D
D
Explanation:
The best way to integrate an enterprise identity provider with federated authentication and enable automatic user creation and role assignment in Snowflake is to use SCIM (System for Cross-domain Identity Management). SCIM allows Snowflake to synchronize with the identity provider and create users and groups based on the information provided by the identity provider. The groups are mapped to roles in Snowflake, and the users are assigned the roles based on their group membership. This way, the identity provider remains the source of truth for user and group management, and Snowflake automatically reflects the changes without manual intervention. The other options are either incorrect or incomplete, as they involve using OAuth, which is a protocol for authorization, not authentication or user provisioning, and require additional configuration of authorization and resource servers.
D
Explanation:
The best way to integrate an enterprise identity provider with federated authentication and enable automatic user creation and role assignment in Snowflake is to use SCIM (System for Cross-domain Identity Management). SCIM allows Snowflake to synchronize with the identity provider and create users and groups based on the information provided by the identity provider. The groups are mapped to roles in Snowflake, and the users are assigned the roles based on their group membership. This way, the identity provider remains the source of truth for user and group management, and Snowflake automatically reflects the changes without manual intervention. The other options are either incorrect or incomplete, as they involve using OAuth, which is a protocol for authorization, not authentication or user provisioning, and require additional configuration of authorization and resource servers.
Question #97
A company wants to Integrate its main enterprise identity provider with federated authentication with Snowflake.
The authentication integration has been configured and roles have been created in Snowflake. However, the users are not automatically appearing in Snowflake when created and their group membership is not reflected in their assigned rotes.
How can the missing functionality be enabled with the LEAST amount of operational overhead?
- A . OAuth must be configured between the identity provider and Snowflake. Then the authorization server must be configured with the right mapping of users and roles.
- B . OAuth must be configured between the identity provider and Snowflake. Then the authorization
server must be configured with the right mapping of users, and the resource server must be configured with the right mapping of role assignment. - C . SCIM must be enabled between the identity provider and Snowflake. Once both are synchronized through SCIM, their groups will get created as group accounts in Snowflake and the proper roles can be granted.
- D . SCIM must be enabled between the identity provider and Snowflake. Once both are synchronized through SCIM. users will automatically get created and their group membership will be reflected as roles In Snowflake.
Correct Answer: D
D
Explanation:
The best way to integrate an enterprise identity provider with federated authentication and enable automatic user creation and role assignment in Snowflake is to use SCIM (System for Cross-domain Identity Management). SCIM allows Snowflake to synchronize with the identity provider and create users and groups based on the information provided by the identity provider. The groups are mapped to roles in Snowflake, and the users are assigned the roles based on their group membership. This way, the identity provider remains the source of truth for user and group management, and Snowflake automatically reflects the changes without manual intervention. The other options are either incorrect or incomplete, as they involve using OAuth, which is a protocol for authorization, not authentication or user provisioning, and require additional configuration of authorization and resource servers.
D
Explanation:
The best way to integrate an enterprise identity provider with federated authentication and enable automatic user creation and role assignment in Snowflake is to use SCIM (System for Cross-domain Identity Management). SCIM allows Snowflake to synchronize with the identity provider and create users and groups based on the information provided by the identity provider. The groups are mapped to roles in Snowflake, and the users are assigned the roles based on their group membership. This way, the identity provider remains the source of truth for user and group management, and Snowflake automatically reflects the changes without manual intervention. The other options are either incorrect or incomplete, as they involve using OAuth, which is a protocol for authorization, not authentication or user provisioning, and require additional configuration of authorization and resource servers.
Question #97
A company wants to Integrate its main enterprise identity provider with federated authentication with Snowflake.
The authentication integration has been configured and roles have been created in Snowflake. However, the users are not automatically appearing in Snowflake when created and their group membership is not reflected in their assigned rotes.
How can the missing functionality be enabled with the LEAST amount of operational overhead?
- A . OAuth must be configured between the identity provider and Snowflake. Then the authorization server must be configured with the right mapping of users and roles.
- B . OAuth must be configured between the identity provider and Snowflake. Then the authorization
server must be configured with the right mapping of users, and the resource server must be configured with the right mapping of role assignment. - C . SCIM must be enabled between the identity provider and Snowflake. Once both are synchronized through SCIM, their groups will get created as group accounts in Snowflake and the proper roles can be granted.
- D . SCIM must be enabled between the identity provider and Snowflake. Once both are synchronized through SCIM. users will automatically get created and their group membership will be reflected as roles In Snowflake.
Correct Answer: D
D
Explanation:
The best way to integrate an enterprise identity provider with federated authentication and enable automatic user creation and role assignment in Snowflake is to use SCIM (System for Cross-domain Identity Management). SCIM allows Snowflake to synchronize with the identity provider and create users and groups based on the information provided by the identity provider. The groups are mapped to roles in Snowflake, and the users are assigned the roles based on their group membership. This way, the identity provider remains the source of truth for user and group management, and Snowflake automatically reflects the changes without manual intervention. The other options are either incorrect or incomplete, as they involve using OAuth, which is a protocol for authorization, not authentication or user provisioning, and require additional configuration of authorization and resource servers.
D
Explanation:
The best way to integrate an enterprise identity provider with federated authentication and enable automatic user creation and role assignment in Snowflake is to use SCIM (System for Cross-domain Identity Management). SCIM allows Snowflake to synchronize with the identity provider and create users and groups based on the information provided by the identity provider. The groups are mapped to roles in Snowflake, and the users are assigned the roles based on their group membership. This way, the identity provider remains the source of truth for user and group management, and Snowflake automatically reflects the changes without manual intervention. The other options are either incorrect or incomplete, as they involve using OAuth, which is a protocol for authorization, not authentication or user provisioning, and require additional configuration of authorization and resource servers.
Question #97
A company wants to Integrate its main enterprise identity provider with federated authentication with Snowflake.
The authentication integration has been configured and roles have been created in Snowflake. However, the users are not automatically appearing in Snowflake when created and their group membership is not reflected in their assigned rotes.
How can the missing functionality be enabled with the LEAST amount of operational overhead?
- A . OAuth must be configured between the identity provider and Snowflake. Then the authorization server must be configured with the right mapping of users and roles.
- B . OAuth must be configured between the identity provider and Snowflake. Then the authorization
server must be configured with the right mapping of users, and the resource server must be configured with the right mapping of role assignment. - C . SCIM must be enabled between the identity provider and Snowflake. Once both are synchronized through SCIM, their groups will get created as group accounts in Snowflake and the proper roles can be granted.
- D . SCIM must be enabled between the identity provider and Snowflake. Once both are synchronized through SCIM. users will automatically get created and their group membership will be reflected as roles In Snowflake.
Correct Answer: D
D
Explanation:
The best way to integrate an enterprise identity provider with federated authentication and enable automatic user creation and role assignment in Snowflake is to use SCIM (System for Cross-domain Identity Management). SCIM allows Snowflake to synchronize with the identity provider and create users and groups based on the information provided by the identity provider. The groups are mapped to roles in Snowflake, and the users are assigned the roles based on their group membership. This way, the identity provider remains the source of truth for user and group management, and Snowflake automatically reflects the changes without manual intervention. The other options are either incorrect or incomplete, as they involve using OAuth, which is a protocol for authorization, not authentication or user provisioning, and require additional configuration of authorization and resource servers.
D
Explanation:
The best way to integrate an enterprise identity provider with federated authentication and enable automatic user creation and role assignment in Snowflake is to use SCIM (System for Cross-domain Identity Management). SCIM allows Snowflake to synchronize with the identity provider and create users and groups based on the information provided by the identity provider. The groups are mapped to roles in Snowflake, and the users are assigned the roles based on their group membership. This way, the identity provider remains the source of truth for user and group management, and Snowflake automatically reflects the changes without manual intervention. The other options are either incorrect or incomplete, as they involve using OAuth, which is a protocol for authorization, not authentication or user provisioning, and require additional configuration of authorization and resource servers.